Adele Paxton and the Philosopher's Stone
by Mandee Jo
Summary: Adele turns eleven and she's whisked off to Hogwarts for her first year, along with her best friend Harry. What adventures await her there? Join Adele as she makes friends, learns magic, and risks more than just expulsion on this dangerous journey.
1. The Boy and Girl Who Lived

A/N: I finally gave in and decided to write a Harry Potter fanfic. There will be seven stories, and I think I'll probably be finishing the first few stories rather quickly. I hope you guys enjoy them, and know that these will follow the books plots. I don't own anything except for a few characters, a few situations, etc.

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

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><p>The moon shined down on Privet Drive, dancing off the boring houses that all resembled the other. Albus Dumbledore fumbled through his robes, but his twinkling blue eyes were on the approaching cat.<p>

"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall." He turned to smile at the tabby cat, but it had gone. Instead, he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had around its eyes. The woman's graying brown hair was tied in a tight bun on the top of her head.

"How did you know it was me?" she asked him.

"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit quite so stiffly," Albus smiled at her.

"You'd be stiff too if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day."

They discussed a few minor things to pass the time, but soon Professor McGonagall's expression grew solemn. She turned to look at Albus, who was fiddling with his long white beard. "How are they getting here?" she asked.

"How is who getting where?" questioned Albus.

The woman hardened her gaze. "Don't think I don't know, Albus. The entire wizarding world is gossiping about it."

Albus didn't sigh, but the woman didn't expect him to. Instead, Albus put a thin and frail hand on her shoulder and turned his sparkling blue eyes on hers. "Hagrid is bringing them here as we speak," he told her.

She stiffened. "So it's true then- what they're saying? Lily and James Potter are dead? And Jonathon and Rose?"

Albus nodded. "They died for their young ones."

Professor McGonagall looked skeptical, but Albus still noticed the pained expression that passed over her face. "This is no place for them, Albus," she insisted. "I've been sitting here all day. These muggles are as worse as they come, and they've got their own sons. Harry and Adele don't belong here."

"We don't have a choice, Minerva," he said, using the Professor's first name. "Look, there's Hagrid now."

Both of them watched as a dot in the sky grew larger and larger until the motor bike was visible. Hagrid, a tall and burly half-giant, landed the bike in a messy fashion. Minerva glanced at Albus with a look that clearly asked why he had chosen Hagrid for such an important task. "I trust him," Albus answered her unvoiced question.

Hagrid approached them with two bundles in his arms; he stared down at them with adoration in his eyes. "Got 'em right 'ere Professor," Hagrid said to Albus. "Bless their little hearts." Minerva and Albus stared down at the two babies, while Harry was wide awake with his green eyes prodding, Adele was fast asleep.

Minerva noticed a lightning shaped scar on Harry's forehead, and a matching scar on Adele's neck. "Is that where-"

"Sure is," Hagrid sniffed. "You-Know-Who destroyed both Lily and James and Rose and Jonathon's houses. Those marks right there are where You-Know-Who's killing curse backfired."

Albus watched with curious eyes as the baby girl opened her large blue eyes. The three wizards exchanged glances, and Hagrid proceeded to produce a large number of oversized tears as he parted with the babies. Minerva had tried to quiet him down, but to no avail. Hagrid placed baby Harry on the doorstep of one house, and placed baby Adele on the doorstep of the house across the street.

"It's such a pity," Minerva said. "They're going to be famous, and they won't even know it."

Minerva apparated on the spot, and Hagrid climbed back on his motorbike. Albus watched as he disappeared into the sky, before turning back to the two babies. "Good luck Harry, Adele," he whispered, and with a swish of his cloak he was gone.


	2. To The Zoo

A/N: Here is chapter one, and I am currently working on chapter two! I really hope you guys enjoy this, 'cause I love Harry Potter!

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

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><p>Nearly ten years had passed since both muggle families woke up with babies on their doorstep, and both Harry and Adele would be turning eleven on the 30th of that month- July. Adele woke up that morning with a smile on her face, and if you asked her, she wouldn't be able to tell you why. Her golden blonde hair spread around her head like a halo of sunlight, and her blue eyes sparkled happily.<p>

"Wake up, girl!" her aunt yelled.

Adele glanced at the floor beneath her cot, and rolled off it. Getting on her knees, she opened the attic door that lead to the second floor of the house and smiled warmly down at her aunt before saying, "I'll be right down."

Her aunt ignored her smiling morning greeting and scowled. "Hurry!"

Adele pulled the attic door closed again, and slipped on a pair of jean shorts that used to be pants. They were too large on her, having belonged to her male cousin before they were given to her. She didn't mind though. Humming a song underneath her breath, Adele slipped on an oversized football t-shirt that used to belong to her uncle.

They never bought her new clothes, but she was glad to have any clothes at all. She thought about her best friend, Harry, who also had to wear his cousin Dudley's old clothes. Thankfully though, Adele's cousin Jason, wasn't too much larger than her. Dudley on the other hand…

Let's just say that he could probably eat Harry for lunch, if Harry's aunt and uncle would let him.

Adele used a hair band to fit her shirt more to her small form, and ran her fingers through her long, unruly hair. Soon she was climbing down the latter to the second floor, and pushing the latter back up. When Adele walked into the kitchen, her uncle shoved a pan into her hands. "Breakfast, now," he demanded. "We will be accompanying the Dursley's today to the zoo for their son's birthday, and we expect you to have this house spotless by the time we arrive home."

Adele nodded at her uncle, and started cracking eggs into the pan. Her uncle and aunt were tall and lanky, although Jason was a bit plumper than his parents. Not as plump as Dudley was though, thankfully.

Adele always told Harry they were raising that boy to become an elephant. Jason ran into the kitchen and sent a smirk at Adele. "A woman in the kitchen," he snorted. "Where she belongs." Adele sent a scowl in his direction, when she was sure her aunt and uncle weren't looking.

Adele was halfway through eating her own piece of bread for breakfast, when the phone rang. "Darrel, will you get that dear?" her aunt asked her uncle.

Darrel answered the phone while running a hand through his black hair. That was another thing that set Adele apart from the rest of the household; her physical appearance. Both her aunt and uncle had black hair and brown eyes, while Jason had inherited hazel eyes from his grandfather. His hair was still midnight black, though.

And then there was Adele, or as her aunt liked to say, Hitler's dream child. Adele wasn't quite sure who Hitler was, only that he killed a lot of people for no good reason at all. "That was Vernon Dursley," Darrel said, hanging up the phone. "They can't find anyone to watch the boy, so they want us to bring the girl. Something about him behaving better."

Her aunt stared at her with disgust, but Adele didn't mind at all. She was going to the zoo with Harry? That was almost like a play-date! She was going to a fun place with a friend! "I suppose we don't have a choice," her aunt mumbled. "Alright, then! Jason, sweetie, take the girl over to Dudley's with you. We'll be over shortly."

Adele had no objection, but Jason scowled in annoyance. They walked out of the house together, although Jason was a few steps ahead of Adele, and crossed the street to the Dursley's house in a hurry. All four of them were outside getting into the car already, and when Vernon and Petunia spotted Adele, they shared a look of disgust with each other.

"Adele!" Harry shouted, tackling her into a hug.

"Nice to see you too, Harry!" she giggled into his neck. "This is exciting, isn't it?"

Harry grinned back at her, and continued to climbed into the car. He waved at her from the other side of the window as she ran off to climb in her aunt and uncle's car with Jason. The ride there was long and awkward, but Adele decided it was worth it when they pulled into the parking-lot of the zoo. She climbed out of the car, slamming the door behind her, and looked around for her friend.

Soon, Dudley, Vernon, and Petunia approached the four of them with Harry trailing behind. Adele took her respective place next to Harry, and followed the two families into the zoo. "How's your day so far?" Adele asked Harry.

"Pretty good, considering," he grinned. "Dudley threw a fit because he had one less present than last year, but that's no surprise."

"Kids these days," Adele imitated an adult, causing Harry to laugh. "This is exciting, though! Did you see the panda bears, Harry? Did you? I love pandas!"

Harry's grin faded after a moment, and it didn't go unnoticed by Adele. "What?" she asked.

"I had that dream again," he whispered in her ear.

She turned to look at him, his green eyes boring into hers. "About the motorcycle?" she asked him.

He nodded. "Except this time, there was a green light too."

Adele got lost in her thoughts for a moment, she too had been having strange dreams that she couldn't explain; a woman screaming, twinkling light blue eyes, and the same green light Harry had just mentioned. "It's strange, really," she muttered. "I'm not sure what it means, but it's probably nothing."

"Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia nearly had a cow when I mentioned it in the car," Harry said.

Adele looked at him sternly. "Harry Potter, you should know not to give them a reason to get angry with you!"

"Adele Paxton," he mimicked her full name usage. "I couldn't help it."

She smirked at Harry in response, and they hurried to catch up to the two families that were heading to an ice cream stand. Dudley and Jason had just gotten two large ice cream treats, and they were about to leave when the man working the ice cream stand noticed Adele and Harry. "Are you two going to be getting something too?" he asked happily. "You look famished."

Not wanting to look like bad 'parents', both Harry and Adele's guardians bought them cheap one dollar cones. They didn't mind one bit though- ice cream was ice cream. After lunch, where Adele and Harry shared a grilled cheese sandwich and a glass of free water, they went to the reptile exhibit.

Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Jason wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras, and thick, man-crushing pythons. It didn't take long for Dudley to find the largest snake in the place, which was a snake that probably could have wrapped itself around both of the two families. Harry and Adele exchanged a look after glancing at the snake, and both nodded in inaudible communication.

The snake, they noted, didn't look in the mood to deal with them, or anything else for that matter. Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, glaring at the glistening brown coils.

"Make it move," he whined to his father. Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.

"Do it again," Dudley demanded, and Adele couldn't help but think Dudley was a pain the butt. Vernon continued to rap on the glass with his knuckles, and Adele knew if she was that snake, she would want to swallow Vernon and Dudley whole. The snake just snoozed on, choosing to ignore them.

"This is boring," Dudley stated. He waddled away, leaving Harry, Adele, and the snake.

Adele watched Harry as he stared intently at the snake, and then turned her attention to the snake as well. It's pretty, she noticed, with its sparkling scales and what looked like smooth snakeskin. The snake lifted its head, and Adele could have sworn she saw it wink at them. Turning to Harry with wide eyes, she found he was staring back at her with the same expression.

They turned back to the snake. It slithered closer to the glass, and nudged its head in the direction of Dudley and Vernon, who were annoying a lizard by the looks of it. Adele glanced around to see if anyone was watching. No one was. "It's like he's saying he gets that a lot," Harry muttered to Adele, referring to the snake.

"It must be really annoying," Adele spoke slowly, but to the snake instead of Harry.

The snake nodded enthusiastically at her.

"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked, accepting that the snake could understand them. Adele, on the other hand, wasn't quite sure she was completely sane anymore.

The snake jabbed its tail at the sign. Harry and Adele peered curiously at it.

Boa Constrictor, Brazil.

"Was it nice there?" Harry asked the snake, and Adele tapped his shoulder.

The snake nudged its tail at Adele and then the plaque again. Adele turned her attention back to the plaque and read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh- I see, so you've never been to Brazil." As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry and Adele broke their concentration. The two of them and the snake jumped.

"DUDLEY! DAD, MR. DURSLEY! COME QUICK! LOOK AT WHAT THE SNAKE IS DOING!" Jason bellowed, and the two boys came waddling towards them as fast as they could.

"Out of the way, you," Dudley said, shoving Harry in the stomach and to the ground.

Jason shoved Adele just as roughly, and she landed on top of Harry on the hard concrete floor. Harry's face was scrunched up in anger, and what happened next happened so fast that no one saw how it happened in the first place.

"You evil gits!" Adele yelled in anger.

Harry placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort, just as Dudley and Jason jumped back in howls of horror. Adele and Harry sat up and gasped; the glass in the front of the Boa Constrictor's tank had vanished, and Adele could've sworn it hissed a "Brazil, here I come. Thanksss, amigos," just as it disappeared from the reptile exhibit completely.

"Where'd the snake go?" someone in the distance shouted.

Soon everything was hectic, with people rushing to the exits in fear that the snake was slithering around. Not that the snake seemed very dangerous, anyway. Adele watched on with amusement, just as Harry started howling with laughter. "What? What is it?" she asked, getting to her feet.

And then she saw Jason and Dudley in the Boa Constrictor's tank, and the glass wall was back. Adele found herself howling in laughter with Harry. It was only after their laughter had died down, and Jason and Dudley were released from the tank by the Reptile Exhibit Supervisor, that Adele and Harry began questioning how the glass went missing in the first place. Or where the snake had vanished to.

"This isn't the first time something strange has happened though," Harry told her, as they walked back to the cars. "To either of us."

Harry was right, of course. Both had strange encounters that couldn't be explained. For example, in the third grade, Adele had been hiding from Jason when he was angry at her for stepping on his Spiderman pencil, she wished he would've just forgotten it happened. Sure enough, a few seconds later, Jason walked past her hiding place and asked her what she was doing.

He hadn't remembered a thing.

When Adele got back to the house, she was ordered straight to the attic with only a bowl of leftover soup for dinner. They didn't even let her reheat the soup, but Adele refused to complain. She was sure Harry got a lot worse of a punishment. At least it was summer vacation, Adele consoled herself, at school she had no one but Harry.

Although that wasn't too bad, Adele got beaten up a lot from defending Harry. She thought he was a cute kid and had a wonderful personality, she just wish everyone else would see that too. Adele wasn't made fun of as much as he was, but because Jason didn't like her, everyone else was too afraid to approach her in case they got Jason upset.

"You're an adorable kid," Adele solemnly recalled a fifth grade girl telling her one day, they were in the girl's bathroom. Adele was in fourth grade at the time. "But that's going to go to waste, because no one will be friends with you since Jason doesn't like you."

Staring out the small attic window, Adele sighed to herself. She couldn't help but wish that something different would happen; something no one would expect. She was tired of living this life, with all the hard times it brought her and Harry, and she was ready for something new. Later that night, Adele was staring at the attic ceiling when the sound of someone throwing rocks at the window startled her.

Tiptoeing to the window and peering out, she saw Harry sitting in the tree outside her window. "We turn eleven in three days," Harry told her, swinging his legs over the branch.

"Harry!" Adele gasped, leaning out her window. "Are you out of your bloody mind? What if your aunt and uncle catch you out here! You'll get in so much trouble- Harry, go back inside right now!"

"Calm down," Harry chuckled. "I made sure they were asleep. Luckily, Uncle Vernon forgot to lock the door to my room."

Adele scoffed. "You can hardly consider that broom cupboard a room, Harry."

Harry leaned forward on the branch he was on, causing the tree to lean towards Adele's window. She helped him into the attic. "And this isn't much better," Harry decided, swiping his finger along an old dresser coated with dust. "At least I don't have to be sneezing every five seconds in the broom cupboard."

Adele smiled at him slightly, and flopped down on her cot. "I want an adventure," she told Harry. "I'm so tired of living such a boring life."

Harry flopped down next to her, and turned his head to look at her face. Adele lifted her hand and swiped Harry's bangs out of his eyes to reveal the lightning shaped scar on his forehead. "I can't believe our parents died in the same car crash, and we both survived with identical scars to prove it."

Harry sighed, and shook his head to get his bangs back over his scar. "You should really get back," Adele told him after a while. "I think the sun will be coming up soon, Harry."

They both glanced out the window, and sure enough the sun was beginning to rise. Harry hugged his friend goodbye, and climbed out her window and down the tree. Adele watched with fond eyes as he climbed through a window on the side of the house.

Sighing, "Relax, Adele," Adele told herself. She walked over to the chest at the end of her cot, and pulled out a light blue sundress that used to belong to her mother. She had found the dress when rummaging through the old boxes and dressers in the attic, seeing as her mother used to live here with her uncle- her mother's brother- it was certain that she'd have some belongings here.

Adele was planning on wearing the blue sundress when she turned eleven; it was her idea of a birthday present that her mother would have given her if she were still alive.

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><p>AN: If you enjoy it, don't be shy! Reviews are awesome!


	3. The Mysterious Letters

A/N: Here is chapter two, and I have three done too, which I'll be putting up later today or tomorrow! I'm working on four as we speak. I hope you enjoy it, and reviews would be cool.

I do not own Harry Potter! I don't own the plot of this story, any of the character except for Adele and her family, etc!

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><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

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><p>Harry and Adele were sitting on the front steps of Harry's aunt and uncle's house. Their birthdays were tomorrow, and Harry was telling Adele about how he was receiving letters that his uncle wouldn't let him read. Adele, much to Harry's surprise, had received letters too. "I wasn't home when it happened the third time," she told him. "I was down by the park by myself- your uncle wouldn't let me see you- and I guess a bunch of letters found their way into the attic. They made me sleep on the couch that night."<p>

"Why?" Harry asked in shock.

"Wanted to make sure they got rid of all of the letters, I guess," Adele told him.

"Uncle Vernon just about lost his head," Harry chuckled, nudging towards the door. "We aren't suppose to get mail on Sundays, but it came today anyway. Owls, lots of owls."

"I saw them too!" Adele shouted, lifting her hand to her mouth to hide her gasp.

They sat there discussing the mysterious letters, and how the letter's sender knew exactly where the two of them were. Harry's letter had been addressed to his broom cupboard, and then to his bedroom when he was moved, or promoted as Adele liked to put it. Adele's was addressed to the attic, and when she had to sleep on the couch, the name was changed to '_The couch in the living room'_.

Suddenly, both doors to both of their houses were thrown open and two angry uncles appeared. Adele noticed a letter in her uncle's hands, and by the looks of it, she knew who the letter was for too. "That's it!" Vernon yelled from behind them, causing her to turn around and stare at him along with Harry.

"You too?" Adele's uncle called angrily from across the street. "I've had enough of this! Get in the car, Adele, right this moment."

Adele didn't argue, too frightened, and did as her uncle said. Five minutes later, an upset Jason and an annoyed Margret- her aunt- were forced into the car as well. Adele's Uncle Darrel followed Vernon's car. About an hour later, they had been driving in circles and squares, but Jason's protests of hunger finally won his father over. Apparently, Vernon was dealing with the same thing by means of Dudley.

The two families walked into what looked like a cheap restaurant, and took a seat at a large table towards the back. Harry and Adele stared at each other in a silent discussion about what was going on, and only stopped when their food arrived. This was the first time that Harry and Adele had the same amount of food as everyone else; a single turkey sandwich and a glass of water.

It wasn't until they were all finished eating, Adele later was thankful for this, that the owner of the restaurant came over to their table.

"'Scuse me, but is any of you Mr. H. Potter or Ms. A. Paxton? Only got about a 'undred of these at the front desk." He held up a letter so they could read the green ink address, and this one happened to be Adele's: Ms. A. Paxton, Table 16, Railview Restaurant, Cokeworth. Adele made a grab for the letter, but Uncle Darrel knocked her hand out of the way.

The owner stared.

"I'll take them," said Uncle Darrel, standing up and quickly following the owner to the front desk.

Two hours later, and five hours away from both Adele and Harry's birthdays, they were on the road again. Harry was in the car with Adele now, after Dudley and Jason had complained about wanting to sit with each other if they just _had_ to drive around. Uncle Darrel and Margret were in the car with them.

"They've gone mad, haven't they?" Adele whispered to Harry.

He stared at her with wide eyes and nodded quickly, wrapping his arms around himself as she yawned. Soon, large raindrops started falling from the sky. Adele wasn't sure why she was excited for her birthday, her family didn't even get her anything. Not that Harry got anything better, but at least he got something.

Then again, you only turned eleven once.

Uncle Darrel followed the other car into the parking-lot of a small rundown building, and both men disappeared inside while the rest of them got out of the car and waited under the tapestry of the building. Soon, Uncle Darrel and Vernon were back and they were smiling. Uncle Darrel was carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Margret when she asked what he'd bought.

"Found the perfect place!" Vernon beamed. "Come on! Everyone, follow me!"

They followed both of the men, and Harry and Adele clung to each other. The wind was harsh on their faces, and the rain was still pouring down; it was freezing cold outside. They finally stopped at what seemed to be a dock, and Uncle Darrel and Vernon were pointing to what looked like a giant rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine.

One thing was certain, they wouldn't be sleeping comfortably tonight.

"Storm forecast for tonight!" Vernon yelled gleefully, clapping his hands together. "And this gentlemen's kindly agreed to lend us his boats!"

Adele tensed visibly as a toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing with a rather wicked grin, at two old rowboats bobbing in the iron-gray water below them.

"We've already got us some rations," said Uncle Darrel. "So all aboard!"

It was freezing in the boat too, and Adele found herself pressed against Harry to make room for his Uncle Vernon in the small rowboat. His Aunt Petunia was in the rowboat with them also, while Adele's aunt and uncle and the other two boys were in the other rowboat. The rowboats were just as cold as walking was, and the harsh wind whipped their faces even more than before.

After what seemed like hours, they reached the rock. Their uncles slipped out of the rowboats and lead the way to the broken-down house.

The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms.

The rations Uncle Darrel mentioned turned out to be a bag of chips each and eight bananas. Adele hated bananas, although she would never admit the reason why; it was a silly one. Adele tried to start a fire, but the empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up.

"Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" Uncle Darrel asked cheerfully.

Whatever, Adele thought, at least she was trying to keep warm. She crawled to the corner of the room with Harry, and they leaned against the wall as the night went on. Soon, everyone but Harry and Adele were asleep. They played rock, paper, scissors, I Spy, and other childish games to pass the time. "I spy with my little eye…" Adele whispered, glancing around the room. "Something yellow."

Harry instantly glanced out the single window in the room and grinned. "Could it be…the sky?"

Sure enough, despite the dark inky color of the sky, strikes of lightning were striking down every so often. Harry pulled Adele onto her knees, and they crawled over the window to watch the sky. "One minute to go, and we'll both be eleven," Adele whispered to him, holding his hand because it made her feel safer.

"Even though were stuck here," Harry started, pulling her back into a sitting position below the window. "I'm glad you're with me."

Adele smiled warmly at her best friend, and they began the silent countdown to their eleventh birthdays. Thirty seconds…twenty…ten…

Nine- "So close," Adele whispered- three…two…

One…

BOOM!

The whole shack shook, and Harry and Adele jumped to their feet in an instant, staring at the door. "Is someone there?" Harry whispered to her.

Sure enough, another loud boom could be heard. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.

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><p>AN: :D :D :D


	4. Holy Giant

A/N: I don't own anything but some characters and some situations! I really hope this gets more views as the story(s) go on, but anyway, enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>

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><p>There was another deafening knock, and Harry's Uncle Vernon skidded into the room wielding a sword. Now they knew what was in the long, thin package. Adele stared at him skeptically, and despite the scariness of the situation, found herself asking, "A sword? Really?"<p>

Vernon barely glanced at her. "Get behind me, both of you!"

They didn't move from their spot. "Who's there!" he shouted. "I warn you- I'm armed!"

Adele and Harry exchanged a bemused look, both wondering the same thing: did he even know how to use a sword? There was a pause. Then- SMASH! The door was hit with such force that it flew off its hinges, and slammed into the wall.

A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard. You could make out his eyes, however, which were glinting like black beetles under all the hair. Adele tried to stand her ground, despite her shaking hands and legs, and almost protested when Harry stood in front of her.

If she couldn't take on the giant, there was no way in bloody hell that Harry could either. The giant managed to squeeze his way into the hut, and glanced around the room at everyone. Dudley and Jason were sitting pin-straight on the couch, cowering visibly in fear, while Petunia and Aunt Margret were huddled in the corner behind Uncle Darrel.

The giant picked up the door, and forcefully fit it back into its frame. He turned back to them all.

"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It hasn't been an easy journey…" he strode over to the sofa where the two boys stiffened in fear.

"Budge up, yeh great lumps," said the stranger, causing Adele to let a small giggle escape her lips. Harry glanced at her, and she noticed he was trying to hide a grin. The boys squeaked in fear, and stumbled over to Petunia and Aunt Margret in a hurry.

"'An here's Adele and Harry!" said the giant happily, turning to face them.

Adele looked up at the giant, and noticed his beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.

"Las' time I saw you guys, you were jus' babies," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, Harry, but yeh've got yer mother's eyes. An' you, Adele, well you look jus' like the spitting image of yer mother, except fer your hair. Definitely got yer dad's hair."

Uncle Darrel made a funny gurgling noise. "I demand that you leave at once!" he yelled. "You're breaking and entering!"

"Ah, shut up, Paxton, yeh great prune," said the giant, glaring with his beady eyes at Uncle Darrel. "Yeh put that last name ter shame."

Vernon looked about ready to start shouting again, although Uncle Darrel was cowering with Petunia and Aunt Margret in the corner now, but the giant leaned over to Vernon and grabbed his sword. "What are yeh even trying ter pull?" he asked Vernon, bending the sword over his knee causing it to break in two.

Vernon stepped down now, looking ready to wet his pants.

"Anyway- Harry, Adele," said the giant, turning his back on everyone else but them, "a very happy birthday to yeh both. Got summat fer yeh here- I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right." From the inside of his black overcoat, he pulled out a slightly squished box. Adele watched as Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with _Happy Birthday Harry and Adele_ written in green icing.

Adele squinted up at the giant, and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Was this really happening, or was it some well thought out joke that her and Harry's family had thought out? Harry looked about to speak, but Adele interrupted him. "Who the bloody hell are you?" she questioned in an equally suspicious tone.

Harry gaped at her, and waved a hand at her. "Sorry about her," Harry told the giant, earning a look of disbelief from Adele.

The giant only smiled and shook his overgrown head of tangled hair. "Jus' like 'er mother, she is," the giant said, referring to Adele most likely. "It's all right Harry, I haven't introduced meself yet. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." He held out his enormous hand, and shook Adele's whole arm. Harry's arm followed.

"What about that tea then, eh?" he asked, rubbing his hands together.

Harry and Adele exchanged a look, and gingerly took a seat on the couch. They watched as he snorted at the shriveled bags of chips in the fireplace, and bent over to do something. Both of them leaned forward to get a better look, but to no avail. When the giant backed up from the fireplace, there was a fire roaring. The entire damp hut filled with light, and Adele got a better look at the faces of fear her family and the Dursley's wore.

She giggled. The giant sat back down on the sofa, causing half of the sofa to sink to the ground, and began pulling things out of his pockets. Adele watched on with curiosity, wondering how he even managed to fit all of the things he was pulling out in his pockets; a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make tea.

Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of cooking sausages, and Adele put a hand over her stomach in embarrassment when it let out a long and loud growl. Harry turned his head to her, and chuckled slightly under his breath. "Hungry there, Adele?" the giant asked. "Yeh both look like skin and bones, so no surprise there."

Adele watched as he set six fully cooked, in fact, slightly burnt, sausages onto a plate and held it out. Dudley, of course, reached for one, only to be slapped away by Vernon. "Don't eat anything he gives you, Dudley."

Uncle Darrel glanced at Jason, probably to make sure he wasn't getting the same idea Dudley had, but to Uncle Darrel's delight Jason looked anything but hungry. Adele and Harry both picked up a sausage, shared another look, and instantly shoved the entire things into their mouths. Adele was so hungry that she had never tasted anything better.

After finishing two sausages and a half- Harry ate the other half- Adele found herself speaking to the giant a bit more kindly than last time. "We're still not quite sure who you are," she told him quietly.

"Call me Hagrid," he said cheerfully, "Everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts- yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course."

"Er, no," said Harry.

"Sounds like an unfortunate disease," Adele responded.

Hagrid looked shock, causing Adele to feel guilty that she didn't know what this Hogwarts was.

"Sorry?" she mumbled, just as Harry muttered an apology as well.

"Sorry!" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursley's and Paxton's, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them that should be sorry! I knew yeh guys weren't gettin' yer letters, but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know about Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?"

Adele stared blankly up at the giant, and shared yet another skeptical look with Harry. "All what?" she finally asked the giant.

"ALL WHAT!" Hagrid thundered. "Now wait jus' one second!" He had leapt to his feet. In his anger, he seemed to fill the whole hut.

Both Adele and Harry's families were cowering against the walls, and if Adele hadn't been scared herself, she probably would've laughed again.

"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at their guardians, "That these kids- these kids!- know nothing about- about ANYTHING?"

While Harry was muttering to her about how he had went to school and knew some things, Adele found herself wondering something else. The giant told her she reminded him of her mother. How did this overgrown man know her mother? Adele vaguely heard Harry tell the giant he knew how to read, do math, and some other stuff. Adele was staring at her hands with wide eyes, trying to make sense of what was happening.

"About our world," Hagrid, she might as well call him that, responded to Harry. "Your world. My world. Yer parents world."

"What world?" Adele found herself asking frantically. "And how do you know my mum?"

Hagrid looked at her with a mix of sympathy and fury. Adele listened as he shouted at her uncle and aunt and Harry's uncle and aunt, and then proceeded to tell the two of them that them and their parents were famous. Harry told Hagrid that their parents weren't famous; they had died in a car crash when Harry and Adele were just one years old. Adele tried to keep up with Hagrid's yelling about their parents being murdered, and magic, and everything else, but it was all too much for her.

After a few more minutes, she went limp and fell onto Harry's shoulder.

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><p>An: I have the fourth one finished, and I'm working on the fifth one. :


	5. Diagon Alley and the Joke Shop

A/N: I don't own anything but a few characters, a few situations, etc! I plan on writing seven stories, just to clarify. They will follow the books, like I said, but there will be things added to make it Adele's story as well, and some things will happen different with her presence there. Don't expect any major romance until around the fourth book, but expect a few cute moments between her and her love interest(s?) here and there!

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><p><strong>Chapter Four<strong>

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><p>Adele woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon, and silently wondered why she wasn't the one making it. Don't be mistaken, it's not like she wanted to make breakfast every morning, but never did she think she'd see the day when her family made their own food. Her eyes flew open when she remembered what happened the night before, and realized that it probably wasn't her family making breakfast. "Harry?" she called, sitting to her knees frantically.<p>

Was she kidnapped? What happened? All she could remember was a giant appearing- Hagrid, she vaguely recalled- and him claiming that her parents were famous, she was famous, and witches and wizards existed. "Adele," Harry muttered, opening one eye and looking at her. "What's wrong?"

"Harry, get up," she whispered, glancing around the room she was in. "We have to get out of here!"

"Adele," he groaned, sitting up to face her. "Calm down, would you? We're safe. Hagrid isn't dangerous…what all do you remember from last night?"

Adele glanced suspiciously around the room until her eyes landed on Hagrid, who was boiling bacon in a pan. "All right there, Adele? Harry?"

Harry grinned at Hagrid, but Adele soon pulled his attention back to her. "I remember him saying our parents were famous for being murdered, and that we were famous, and that witches and wizards existed- but Harry, this is impossible! Surely you don't believe this?"

"Hagrid showed me magic," Harry whispered in her ear. "I saw it with my own eyes, Adele, and I believe him."

Adele squinted at Harry, but it was in the unwritten best friend handbook to trust your best friend regardless. "All right then, explain to me where we are, what we are, and everything that I missed."

"Your mum and dad, along with my mum and dad, were murdered by a dark wizard named Voldemort," Harry said this in a whisper. "The wizard tried to kill us too, but I guess the curse backfired or something. That's why we have those lightning scars," Harry moved his bangs from his forehead, revealing the scar. Adele's hand gingerly covered her own lightning scar on the right side of her neck. "Our parents were witches and wizards, and those letters we never got to read are from Hogwarts- a school for witches and wizards."

"But why are we, er, famous then?" Adele questioned.

"Hagrid said it's because the curse the wizard tried to kill us with backfired, and never before had there been anyone who survived the killing curse," Harry tried his best to explain, recalling what Hagrid had told him.

Adele considered this information, and decided to go along with it. After all, she had wished for an adventure, and sure enough that's what she was getting. Wasn't it? "All right then," she finally said, causing Harry to smile. "Is that an owl?"

Sure enough, an owl flew threw the window in the room, and a package landed on the table next to Hagrid. After Harry struggled with paying the owl with foreign money, and Adele's help wasn't much, Hagrid set out two plates for them and they ate a few pieces of bacon. "Best be off, then," Hagrid said after they finished. "Got lots ter do, not so much time. We need to get yer school things."

Harry and Adele glanced at each other, and then turned back to Hagrid.

"Um, Hagrid," Adele said slowly. "We haven't got any money."

"Nonsense!" Hagrid boomed. "Do yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh nothing?"

After a few more words, the three of them were headed off to a wizarding bank called Gringotts, where apparently Adele and Harry's parents had left them money. Apparently the bank was run by goblins- yes, goblins. Adele had never seen a goblin before, not even on TV or in a picture, and she was quite looking forward to it. "Do you think they're short?" Adele whispered to Harry as they walked down a street in downtown London.

"I think so," Harry responded. "I saw a picture once in one of Dudley's storybooks, they look very short."

As they walked to an unknown destination, Hagrid continued telling them about the wizarding world. There was a Ministry of Magic, even. Apparently they had wanted the headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore, to be the Minister, but Dumbledore had refused. "Yeh'd be out of yer mind to rob Gringotts," Hagrid was now saying. "Right out of yer mind."

"Why's that?" Adele asked, interested in the topic.

"Spells, enchantments," Hagrid went on carelessly. "There's even rumored to be a dragon guarding some of the vaults."

People passing by stared, although Adele couldn't blame them. If she had seen Hagrid walking down the streets, she would've probably been torn between calling animal patrol or someone with a large stunning gun. Now that she knew Hagrid was harmless, however, she felt a lot safer with him than she would if she were one of the people gawking. Hagrid went onto the topics of dragons, causing Harry to gape up at him.

"You'd want a dragon?" he asked in disbelief.

"Wanted one since I was a kid- here we go," Hagrid said, stopping in front of a station.

The three of them boarded the train, Harry and Adele having to take care of the money as Hagrid had no idea how it worked, and then waited out the ride by looking over the things they'd need for school. Adele was happy she finally got to read the letter that had arrived so many times before. "Cauldrons? Harry, look at these ingredients we need for a class called Potions! _Potions_!"

They needed supplies for school, robes, and they could even get an owl or a cat! "I've always wanted a cat," Adele swooned.

The three of them climbed off the train after fifteen minutes of excitement and bouncing in seats, or at least on Adele's part, and followed Hagrid down the streets once more. After getting lost for about twenty minutes, they finally came across a tiny, grubby-looking pub.

"This is it," Hagrid beamed. "The Leaky Cauldron, it's a famous place."

"Just like we're famous people?" Adele whispered skeptically into Harry's ear. He sent her a glare.

For a famous place, it was dark and murky. Adele found herself walking closer to Hagrid and Harry as they walked towards the bar. The bartender was bald and toothless, and Adele thought he reminded her of an acorn. "The usual, Hagrid?" he asked, smiling a toothless smile.

"Can't Tom," Hagrid responded, grinning down at Harry and Adele. "I'm on Hogwarts business."

The bartender peered over the bar and stared at Harry and Adele. "Good lord- could it be?" The Leaky Cauldron had gone eerily silent.

"Bless my soul," whispered the old bartender, "Harry Potter and Adele Paxton…what an honor this is!"

Suddenly the entire pub was loud with gasps and people scurrying over to the two of them shaking their hands, trying to make conversation, and pulling on Adele's long golden blonde hair. "Just like your dad's," Tom had said. "Although you look like the spitting image of your mother, dear. Such a beautiful woman, she was."

"Er, thanks?" Adele glanced uneasily at Harry.

A pale young man made his way towards them, very nervously. One of his eyes were twitching. Adele thought it was kind of adorable in that pathetic sort of way.

"Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Adele, Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts!"

Quirrell grabbed both of their hands and shook them. "P-P-Potter," he stuttered, and turned to Adele. "P-P-Paxton, you l-look just l-l-like your mother." Adele had heard this so many times in the past day that she was starting to get annoyed.

She tuned the professor out as he continued to stutter on about his class- Defense Against the Dark Arts- and while that class sounded probably the most fun on Adele's list of classes, with this professor teaching, she couldn't help but think it could get annoying. Finally, _finally_, Hagrid managed to squish them through the crowd and out the backdoor of the pub. "Told yeh you guys were famous," Hagrid grinned. "Even Professor Quirrell was excited to see yeh! Mind him though, he always stutters."

Adele had started braiding her hair without realizing it, and dropped the half braid back to her shoulder when she saw it. "What's he doing?" she whispered to Harry. Hagrid was holding his umbrella before him, and tapping on random bricks. "Beats me," Harry whispered back, shrugging.

The last brick he touched grew wider and wider, until it was a large opening to a street that winded down and around. They took a step through the archway, and it instantly swiveled back into a solid wall. "Welcome," Hagrid said, outstretching his large arms. "To Diagon Alley."

"Can I meet you guys outside that bank- Gringotts, was it?" Adele asked, excitement building in her. This place looked amazing, and she wanted to look around ASAP!

Hagrid chuckled. "Nonsense Adele, yeh don't even know where the bank is, an' yeh need yer money. But I'll tell yeh what, soon as you get yer money, yeh can go off on yer own as long as yeh promise to get yer things while yer at it. An' be careful!"

"How will we find her again?" Harry looked horrified.

"I'll find you, Harry. I always know where you are anyway," Adele told him, grinning as they made their way towards a rather intimidating and large building.

"It's true," Harry told Hagrid. "She always knows where I am, even when I don't tell her where I'm going."

"Oh, come off it, Harry," Adele waved it off. "You always know where I am too."

They walked towards the intimidating building, and once they were inside the entryway, a plaque on the wall caught Adele's attention.

Enter, stranger, but take heed of what awaits the sin of greed, for those who take, but do not earn, must pay most dearly in their turn. So if you seek beneath our floors, a treasure that was never yours, thief, you have been warned, beware of finding more than treasure there.

"Well that's a letdown," she mumbled. "The last word didn't even rhyme."

"Like I said," Hagrid bellowed, leading them into the bank. "Yeh'd be out of yer mind to try an' rob it."

The first thing Adele spotted when she was inside were goblins, and a lot of them. They were short and angry looking creatures, with pointed noses and beady little eyes. Hagrid led them to the front desk, and the goblin sitting there stared down at them. "We need to get in ter three vaults, firs' Harry's, then Adele's, an' then vault seven hundred and thirteen. Dumbledore sent this letter," Hagrid showed the goblin, who nodded in what Adele thought was an uninterested manner.

"Keys?" the goblin asked, bored.

Adele got lost in thought again as Hagrid fumbled through his pockets for their keys, and eventually they were lead away again by a goblin named Griphook. Adele barely registered herself climbing onto something, but snapped back when the thing started going fifty hundred thousand miles an hour. Or something like that. "What the bloody hell!" she whisper-yelled in Harry's ear, holding on for dear life.

Thirty minutes later, they were exiting Gringotts with a reasonable amount of money. Adele was curious about what had been in the last vault they visited, but Hagrid refused to let them come in, or know anything about it for that matter. All they knew was when Hagrid returned from the vault, he was carryign a package. Adele and Harry were left behind quite a lot of money by their parents, but Adele wasn't focused on that right now. She wanted, more than anything, to run around Diagon Alley and explore.

"All right then, Adele, yer free to go," Hagrid said, patting her arm. Adele's entire body shook with the force.

"Be careful!" Harry yelled after her, as she bounded down the street. "And don't talk to strangers!"

"Yes, mum!" Adele laughed, calling over her shoulder.

After a few minutes, Adele slowed her pace to a slow walk in order to soak in everything around her. Glancing down at the list of supplies in her hands, she- albeit a bit grudgingly- made her way into Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions. When she stepped into the shop, an old woman who was most likely Madam Malkin scurried over to her. "Hogwarts, m'dear?" she asked kindly. Adele nodded.

"And I'm guessing you're a first year, as you're a tiny little thing," she muttered, gesturing for Adele to follow her. "Cute, but tiny. Do your parents feed you?"

"I live with my aunt and uncle," Adele told her, stepping onto a chair to get fitted. "They're muggles, though. I don't think they like magic very much."

A black girl with long black hair, who looked a bit older than Adele, was getting fit for new robes it seemed. "I live with a muggle," she said, turning to Adele. "But she's my mum."

"Fascinating," Adele mumbled sarcastically, but smiled warmly at the girl anyway.

"What's your name?" the girl asked her, as Madam Malkin jabbed and pricked Adele with her needle and measuring tape. "I'm Adele, Adele Paxton," Adele told the girl, causing Madam Malkin to stop.

"I should've known it was you," the old woman said. "You look just like your-"

"Mother, I know," Adele sighed.

"I was actually going to say your father, but I guess you do resemble your mother also," Madam Malkin smiled at Adele.

"I've heard about you," the other girl getting fitted said. "You and Harry Potter, you're famous. My name is Angelina Johnson, nice to meet ya'," the girl stuck out her hand, and Adele shook it a bit less enthusiastically. It was weird to hear people mention Harry and her like they've known them their entire lives, when Adele had never seen these people before.

Madam Malkin finally finished fitting Adele, and handed her a bag full of robes and such. After struggling with paying Madam Malkin the right amount of money, Adele made her way out of the shop.

The next thing she got was a wand, and the wand-maker, Ollivander, had told Adele her wand was 'quite curious'. In fact, he kept mumbling it over and over. Finding the wand had taken around ten minutes, but she didn't mind. The material was smooth and a dark red color, streaked with brown. "Eleven inches, flexible, a strand of hair from a Veela," he had said. "The core is half of a dragon heartstring."

"Only half?" Adele had questioned. "And what's a 'Veela'?"

"The other half, quite ironically, was in your father's wand," Ollivander had said, and Adele gasped. "Your mother was half Veela, you know? I guess that makes you part Veela as well, no surprise there. Definitely a cute kid, just like your mother was, just like her..."

Adele was fascinated to know these things, minus the part about looking like her mother again, but that still didn't answer her questions completely. Time was running out, she realized, so she bought her wand and scurried out of the wand shop. Honestly, Adele couldn't be happier with her wand choice; it felt right in her hands. Almost like it was meant to be there.

After picking up the books she needed, along with the other supplies like cauldrons and such, Adele finally allowed herself to relax. She stopped in front of a display surrounded by kids her age and older, and pushed through the crowd to see what they were all gaping at.

When she finally got a clear view, her eyes landed on a broomstick. Not just any broomstick though, a very cool looking broomstick. Adele pressed her face against the glass to get a better look, and found the urge to get on it and fly off. She was a witch, wasn't she? "Don't get your hopes up," a voice said from beside her. "You're a first year, right? Can't get a broom or try out for Quidditch until your second year."

Adele turned to stare at the person speaking, and then scowled. The boy, with his slicked back blonde hair and cold blue eyes, didn't look a day older than Adele did! "And I assume that _you_ are an exception?" she asked, scoffing.

"Not yet," said the boy. "But I will be soon, once Father gets a say in it."

Adele rolled her eyes and pushed back through the crowd of people. The boy, much to her dislike, followed her. "You're cute," he said, trailing behind her as she stocked down the street. "What's your name? I'm Draco, Draco Malfoy."

"And I'm not interested," Adele stopped, turned to him, and placed her hands on her hips. "Now stop following me, or I'll scream bloody murder!"

The boy just stood there smirking, and after having enough of it, Adele turned around and walked into the nearest shop. Thankfully, the boy didn't follow her. When Adele stopped to look around the shop, she realized it was a joke shop. Pulling out leftover money from her jean short pockets, she grinned. Just enough to by a few things. She walked deeper into the shop, surveying all the prank supplies. She stopped at a display for different types of prank candy.

"If I were you-"

"I would get the green one-"

"That one lasts longer."

Adele looked at the box of candy in her hands, that would change the consumer's hair a different color. She turned to look at the people who had spoken, and found two identical twin boys with red hair and blue eyes. Adele eyed them skeptically. "How do I know you're not just trying to get me to buy the one that lasts the shortest amount of time?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Because-" said the taller of the two.

"We're fellow pranksters."

"Are you now?" Adele had never pulled a prank before, but she had always wanted to. She knew she could never pull anything on her Uncle Darrel or Aunt Margret, and Jason would surely complain to them if she pulled anything on him. But now that she would be going to school at Hogwarts, she'd have many opportunities.

"We are," said the shorter one. "I'm Fred-"

"And I'm George," the taller one proclaimed.

Adele looked at them both, trying to find more ways to tell them apart than their heights as it wasn't a very good difference; they were maybe a half inch different in height. Finally, she settled on their mouths. One of them had a curved upper lip, while the other had a straight one. George was the one with the curved, Fred with the straight.

"Nice to meet you," Adele told them, but before she could finish, a short and plump woman with matching red hair bounded over to them. "Fred, George, get back here this instant! Don't you ever run off like that again!"

Adele chuckled at them and picked up a box of green candies just for good measure, before grabbing a screaming yo-yo and paying at the front desk. When she finally got back outside, she saw Harry and Hagrid looking around. Probably for her. "Harry!" she yelled, racing over.

"We got yeh something," Hagrid said when she caught up to them. "Harry picked him out, good choice I'd say."

Adele gasped when Harry handed over a black bundle to her, and realized the black bundle was a kitten. A red bow with a golden bell was tied around his neck. Harry grinned at her, and held his own caged white owl in his hands. "This is Hedwig," Harry told her, gesturing to his owl. "She's a snowy white owl."

"All right then," Hagrid said, gesturing them down the street. "Off we go."

"What are you going to name him?" Harry asked, nodding at the kitten.

After a moment, Adele replied, "Licorice."

Harry looked dumbfounded. "Why 'Licorice'?"

"I like Licorice," she said simply.

Hagrid gave them their tickets for King's Cross Station, first of September, and then brought them back to their houses. Adele was disappointed the fun was over, but was sure the next month would go by amazingly fast.

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><p>AN: Enjoy!


	6. Hogwarts Express

A/N: Here's chapter five. I don't own anything but a few characters, situations, etc. Yadda...yadda..

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><p><strong>Chapter Five<strong>

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><p>The last month before school would start went by fast for Adele, and unlike Harry, who was being ignored, her aunt and uncle and Jason were trying to be <em>nicer<em> to her. Adele thought it was because they were afraid of her, and what she could do to them if they got her angry. And although they were a long step away from being civil, at least they weren't making her cook them breakfast every morning anymore.

"Adele? Adele!" Harry's voice knocked Adele out of her thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"Do you want to go to the station together tomorrow?" asked Harry, leaning down on her cot. They were currently in Adele's attic bedroom, and they were discussing some cartoon show that they'd seen when the Dursley's went out to dinner one night without Harry. They snuck into Dudley's room and spent most of the night there, that was until they heard the sound of a car door slamming. Then, let's just say, things got hectic in trying to clean up the evidence they were there.

Apparently the discussion about the cartoon show was over, though. "Sure, but we can't get a ride with my family," Adele responded. "They're being nice and all, but they made it clear they wanted nothing to do with Hogwarts. I was just going to take a taxi there."

"That's fine," Harry rolled up the sleeves on the baggy grey shirt he was wearing. "I already asked Uncle Vernon if he'd take you too."

"And he was fine with it?" Adele asked surprised.

"He was when I told him what platform we had to be on," mumbled Harry, recalling the awkward discussion. "Platform nine and three-quarters. He says there isn't a platform nine and three-quarters though."

"Nonsense," Adele remarked, causing Harry to relax slightly. "I think we'll manage, Harry."

Adele had packed and unpacked and packed and unpacked her trunk of things over and over again, always finding something that could be neater or something that she forgot. She wasn't a perfectionist at all, but she also wasn't very patient. And to be completely honest in her opinion, although the month went by quickly, it still didn't go by quickly enough for Adele's liking.

"What do you think it'll be like?" Adele asked, staring at the ceiling. Dark splotches had started appearing where rain had escaped through the cracks, and a few stray cobwebs that Adele must have missed littered a few corners. Thankfully, there were no spiders adjourning the cobwebs. "I'm not sure-" Harry began, but cut off when he saw a lump of clothing set on top of Adele's halfway packed trunk. "Adele, is that a dress? Since when do you wear dresses?"

"What, you can't picture me in a dress?" Harry just looked at her. "All right, all right. That dress was my mum's, and I was going to wear it for my birthday, but since we weren't here…Well, I tried it on as soon as we got home, but it's still too big for me."

Harry mumbled something that Adele barely caught, and chose not to question him. A few more minutes went by with both of them staring out the window at the setting sun, and the only sound being Adele's kitten meowing softly from underneath her bed. "Shush, Licorice," Adele whispered after a few minutes.

The black kitten peered out at Adele, and joined Harry and her on the cot. Harry's eyes landed on the kitten, and after a few more moments he pushed himself to a sitting position. "Licorice reminds me that I should go let Hedwig fly around my room. I'll see you tomorrow Adele," Harry scratched behind Licorice's ears before climbing out the attic window, and down the tall dwindling tree.

Adele watched her friend run across the street, and through the front door of his own house before kneeling in front of her suitcase for the final attempt at packing. Not sure what clothes she'd need, Adele packed all of her new school uniforms; different sets of robes, a pointy hat that Adele thought looked silly, along with a black skirt, a pair of black pants, and a few boring grey tops.

After she had taken up the room with that, she packed a pair of jean shorts she had bought in Diagon alley, along with a few pairs of jeans she'd also bought, and a red knitted hat that she'd made over the past month to keep her mind off of Hogwarts and the long approaching weeks. Following the clothing came the books, and then the other supplies she had bought, along with a few toys that she'd made for Licorice, and a few other things that she wanted to bring with or belonged to her mother.

Figuring the dress wouldn't fit her for the next year or so, Adele left it safely folded in a hidden compartment underneath her cot. When she was done packing her things, she walked over to the attic to gaze at the stars in the sky. "We leave for a whole new adventure tomorrow, Licorice," she whispered to her purring cat.

Twenty minutes passed by in a blur, and after Licorice began prodding her with her head, Adele reluctantly crawled onto her cot. She closed her eyes, but she knew that sleep wouldn't come for a while with her nerves and excitement this high.

Sure enough, after what seemed only a couple hours, Adele found herself being woken up by several poking fingers. Grumbling to the person about a few more minutes, knowing that it couldn't possibly be her aunt or uncle, she pulled her pillow over her head. The person, however, was persistent.

"Adele, wake up!" Harry's voice shouted. "We leave today, get out of bed you lump!"

Sitting up like a lightning bolt had struck her, Adele found her excitement returning to her instantly. Turning her head to Harry and grinning, "You did not just call me a lump," she teased.

"I did, and I'll do it again if you don't hurry up! We leave in," Harry peered out the window. "My uncle is already putting my things in the car!"

"Okay, okay, turn around," Adele mumbled, stripping off her oversized t-shirt that she used as a nightgown when Harry turned around. "All good, now."

When Harry turned back around, Adele was wearing a pair of black jean shorts and an orange tank top. Her hair was still braided from the night before. "All set?" Harry asked, helping her pick up her trunk.

Adele nodded, and together they carried the trunk down the attic stairs, down the second set of stairs, and out the front door of her house. Sighing loudly as Harry and Adele were halfway across the street, Vernon came fumbling over and took the trunk from their hands. Harry and Adele climbed into the backseat of the car, and Adele was squished against the window in order for Dudley to have enough room.

When they reached King's Cross Station, Vernon was having a field day when there was no platform nine and three-quarters. He, Petunia, and Dudley left them there all the while, Vernon was laughing like some kind of lunatic. Putting a hand on Harry's shoulder in sympathy, Adele smiled at him. "It'll be okay, Harry," she told him. "We'll just ask somebody if they know."

The two of them pushed their trolleys after setting everything down onto them, and asked a nearby guard about the platform. The guard had shooed them off, mumbling something about hooligans playing stupid jokes on guards and how he wasn't paid enough. "Well that was a bust," Adele commented, puffing out her bottom lip.

"Ad, do you think we were given an incorrect ticket?" Harry asked, peering around.

Adele's eyes grazed over the crowd, and not a single person looked like a wizard- not that she knew what wizards were suppose to look like, really. Sure, at Diagon Alley they all resembled normal people in a way, but they had things to differentiate themselves from others. Looking around, however, Adele didn't spot anyone wearing robes, carrying an owl or a cat or a toad, or anything else that might have stuck out.

After a few more seconds of studying their surroundings, Harry was about to say something when Adele put a finger to her mouth as a gesture of silence. "Do you hear that?" she said after a moment.

Harry gave her a look of confusion, but stayed quiet anyway. After a few seconds, Adele was about to give up and tell Harry she thought she heard someone say Hogwarts, but she didn't have to. A group of people passed behind them, and they caught a few words of what they were saying.

"- packed with muggles, of course -"

Swinging around, Adele and Harry saw a plump woman with fiery red hair leading a group of four boys and a younger girl, all with identical fiery red hair. Adele recognized the twin boys from the joke shop in Diagon Alley. "They're wizards, Harry!" she whisper-yelled in Harry's ear. "Let's follow them!"

They stopped when the group of redheads stopped, and Adele giggled when the young girl riding on one of the twin's trolleys started whining. "Mum, can't I go…" she started again. Adele thought she was kind of adorable. "No Ginny, alright Percy, you first."

Harry and Adele watched as what looked like the oldest of the boys ran at one of the platforms- yes, literally at one of the platforms. Adele gasped when he went straight through, and looked around to see if anyone else saw. No one seemed to notice.

"Fred, you next," said the woman.

Adele watched as Fred approached the platform, and stared back at his mother. "I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy, and Adele turned over to Harry to whisper in his ear. "He's lying," she told Harry. "That is Fred."

"How do you know?" Harry asked, as the twin named Fred started walking towards the platform.

"Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"

"Sorry, George, dear."

"Only joking, I am Fred," said Fred as he began running at the platform, and then vanished like the first boy.

"How are they doing that?" Harry asked in her ear, but Adele didn't have the answer.

The third brother- George- ran at the platform after his twin. Harry glanced at Adele, and then approached the plump woman who was left with her daughter and one of the sons. "Excuse me," Harry said to her.

"Hello, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts?"

Adele walked up behind Harry, and nodded in unison with him. "Don't worry, it's Ron's first year too." She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangly with bright blue eyes.

"Yes," Harry said. "The thing is- we don't- we're not sure how to…"

"Not to worry," said the woman. "All you do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop, don't be scared, and within seconds you'll be on platform nine and three-quarters. Who's first? How about you, dear?" She directed this at Adele.

"Um, alright," said Adele nervously.

She glanced at Harry with wide eyes, gulped, and ran with her trolley straight at the platform. She closed her eyes and waited for an impact, only it never happened. When her fast pace slowed down, she opened her eyes and gasped. All round her were people in robes, people with owls and kittens and toads, and a long train that read _Hogwarts Express_. Harry appeared behind her, and wore the same shocked expression.

Harry and Adele started taking their things off of their trolleys, and stepped onto the train. They began walking down it, but most of the compartments were taken. Adele watched with sad eyes as kids gave tearful goodbyes to their parents, hugged their younger siblings who weren't able to go to Hogwarts yet, and wished that she could experience something of the same aspect.

After a few more compartment-checking, they finally found one towards the back of the train carriage. Harry set Hedwig in the compartment, and Adele let Licorice curl up on one of the seats. "I think I saw a spider," Adele whispered to him, as they struggled to place their trunks on the platform above the compartment doors.

"Want a hand?"

Adele turned around along with Harry to see one of the twins- Fred, Adele noted.

"Yes, please," Adele and Harry chorused.

"Oy, George!" shouted Fred. "Come and help me out here!"

Fred's twin appeared a few seconds later, and they pushed Harry's and Adele's trunks onto the platform above. "Hey, I recognize you," Fred spoke suddenly. "Aren't you the girl we saw in the joke shop? Who bought the pink hair-coloring candy?"

"Should've bought green," George piped up.

"I am," Adele said, noticing Harry backing into their compartment slowly. "And I did, I bought both the pink and green, just in case you were telling the truth."

"Oh, don't worry-"

"-We were."

Adele pulled Harry back to her side, and the twins turned their attention to him. "This is-" Adele began, but was interrupted by George.

"Blimey-" he started. "Are you?"

"He is," said Fred, staring wide-eyed at Harry. "Aren't you?"

"What?" Harry asked, confused.

"Harry Potter," chorused the twins.

"Oh, him," said Harry, causing Adele to giggle slightly. "I mean, yes, I am."

The two boys gawked at him for a moment, before turning back to Adele. "And who are you?" asked Fred, looking her up and down. "You're awfully cute for a first year."

"The wand-maker, Ollivander I think his name was, told me I was part Veela. I don't know if that has anything to do with being cute…but he mentioned that too," Adele trailed on. "Oh! My name is Adele Paxton, by the way."

Both twins gasped at this, causing Adele to look frantically at Harry. "Did I do something wrong?" she whispered.

"Merlin!" shouted George. "_You're_ Adele Paxton?"

"And," said Fred. "You're friends with _Harry Potter_?"

"Um, I guess so?" Adele asked, confused why this was a big deal.

The twins sat there staring at Harry and Adele for a few more moments, before Fred started speaking again. "So, you're Adele Paxton-"

"And you like pranks-"

"And you're part Veela-"

"_And_ you're friends with-"

"Harry Potter!"

Adele stared at them with a skeptical expression. "I don't know why that's so amazing," she said, growing annoyed. "You two are pretty strange too, really. Always finishing each other's sentences and whatnot."

They looked like they were about to say something, but a voice cut them off. "Fred? George? Are you there?"

"Coming mum!" they yelled, and ran off after giving Harry and Adele another once-over.

Exchanging a look of disbelief, the two of them went back into their compartment and slid the door shut. The window in their compartment was opened, and a voice came floating through. Adele laughed with Harry as the mother of all the redheaded kids tried to get a smudge of dirt off of the youngest boy's nose with a handkerchief.

"Mum-gerroff!" He wriggled free.

"Awe, has ickle Ronnie-kins got summfin on his noise?" asked George in a teasing tone.

"Shut up," mumbled Ron.

Adele glanced at Harry, and knew he was thinking what she was; this was one interesting family.

"Where's Percy?" asked the mother. "Oh, there he is!"

The oldest boy came striding over, and Adele noticed he was already changed into the billowing Hogwarts robes that were required. "What's that on his robe?" Harry asked, squinting.

"Your eyesight is really terrible, Harry," Adele mumbled, looking at the oldest boy's robe. "It's a badge with the letter P on it, although I've got no idea what it means."

"Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front, the prefects-"

"That's what it is!" Adele exclaimed, blurring the boy's next few words.

"-two compartments to themselves-"

"Oh, are you a prefect, Percy?" Fred asked, glancing with surprise at the boy named Percy's badge.

"You should have said something," said George. "We had no idea."

"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," Fred went on.

"Once-"

"Or twice-"

"A minute-"

"All summer-"

"Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.

"How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" asked Fred.

Adele tuned out the conversation after that, and started petting Licorice who had taken a liking to Adele's lap. She barely heard something about the twins blowing up a toilet, and looking after Ron.

"Hey mum, guess who we just met on the train?" Adele's ears perked up in curiosity as Fred began speaking. "You know that black-haired boy and blonde-haired girl who were by the platform? Guess who they are?"

"Wasn't the girl the one you two had been with at the joke shop? The one you two thought was 'absolutely adorable'?" their mother asked, half paying attention.

Adele felt her face grow red, and Harry grinned at her from across the compartment.

"Fred was the one who said that!" George shouted, and at the same time Fred shouted, "George was the one who said that!"

"But anyway, mum," George continued, glaring at Fred for a moment. "They're Harry Potter and Adele Paxton!"

"Oh mum, can I go on the train and meet him, please…" the little girl's voice floated through the windows. Adele grinned at Harry this time, who was growing slightly red.

"Ginny, you've already met him," said the mother. "And those poor children are not people you should goggle at either, you two." She gave a stern eye to Fred and George, who shrugged with grins.

"Never mind that," said Fred. "Do you reckon they remember what You-Know-Who looks like?"

"I forbid you to ask them that, Fred! No, don't you dare. As though they need reminding of that on the first day of school."

"All right, keep your hair on."

A whistle sounded around them, and the boys were rushed back onto the train after saying goodbye to their mother and little sister. Harry and Adele sat back in their seats, and kept silent for a few seconds. After the short silence, Adele looked away from Harry's face. "Do you remember?" she asked. "Voldemort, I mean."

"I don't," said Harry. "Do you?"

"Not a thing."

The door of the compartment suddenly slid open, and the youngest redheaded boy came in. "Do you mind?" he asked uneasily. "Everywhere else is full."

"Not at all," Harry said.

"Take your pick of these fine seats," joked Adele.

The boy seemed to loosen up a bit at that, and took a seat next to Harry and diagonal to Adele. Adele grinned at him, while the boy looked at the two of them, and then quickly looked away, pretending he hadn't looked. Adele didn't mind, because she was not-so-subtly surveying him. His red hair fell right above his ears, and he still had the black smudge on his nose. She giggled quietly.

"Hey, Ron." The twins were back.

"Listen, we're going down to the middle of the train," said Fred.

"Lee Jordan's got a tarantula down there," George continued, and Ron and Adele both shuddered.

"Right," mumbled Ron.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of spiders too?" Fred asked, noticing Adele's shudder.

Adele peered up at him, and narrowed her eyes. "They're hideous creatures," she told them, crossing her arms. "They have too many legs and too many eyes."

"See!" exclaimed Ron. "I'm not the only one!"

The twins grinned at each other, and turned to Harry. "Harry," said one twin. "Did we introduce ourselves to you? I'm George-"

"And I'm Fred-"

"And this is Ron, our brother," finished the first. "See you later, then."

"Bye," said Harry and Ron together.

"They're lying, you know," said Adele, causing Fred and George to turn back around. "The one who said he's George is actually Fred, and the one who said he's Fred is actually George."

The twins gaped at her, as did Ron. Harry looked confused. "How do you know?"

"Yeah," said Fred. "You've barely just met us, and not even our mum can't tell us apart sometimes."

Adele hesitated. "You're lips," she finally said. "George has a curved upper lip, while you've got a straight upper lip. Not to mention, George is a bit taller than you."

George stared at her for a moment, before grinning. "I reckon we'll have to watch out for this one, Fred," he said.

"I do agree with you, George," said Fred.

The twins walked out of the compartment, and slid the door shut behind them. There was silence for a few seconds, before Ron hastily turned to face both Adele and Harry as best as he could. "Are you really Harry Potter and Adele Paxton?"

They both nodded. "The one and only," Adele put in.

"Oh- well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "Have you really got…you know…"

Harry looked confused for a moment, but then realized what Ron was talking about. He swiped aside his bangs for Ron to see, and Ron's eyes bulged at the lightning bolt scar. Ron turned to Adele. "You do too, right?"

She nodded, and moved one of her braids to show him the lightning bolt scar on her neck. Adele began unbraiding her hair as Ron and Harry began talking about You-Know-Who, or Voldemort as Adele liked to used his name, and about Ron's family full of wizards. After Adele finished unbraiding her hair, she noticed Ron was staring at her and Harry was too.

"What?" she asked. "Is there something on my face?"

"Is is true you're part Veela?" Ron blurted.

"Oh," Adele relaxed. "Yeah, I guess. I have no idea what that is, though."

"They're a race of semi-human, semi-magical creatures," explained Ron. "That's all I know really, but I guess they're also really beautiful. You know, breathtaking sort of? I guess that would explain why you're…"

"Why she's what?" asked Harry.

"Don't know why you haven't noticed, mate," said Ron.

"Noticed what?" Adele asked, crossing her arms.

"Well," Ron's ears were growing red. "Like Fred and George said, you're really…"

Adele was growing annoyed with Ron, but didn't push him more. "Are you meaning to say she's cute?" asked Harry. "She's my best mate…I guess I never really noticed before, but yeah, I guess she is cute."

"Excuse me," Adele interrupted, now completely annoyed. "I'm right here, I can hear what you're saying."

After a few more minutes of discussing Adele and a few other random things, a plump lady with a kind smile and dimples slid open the compartment door. Adele peered out, and had to shut her jaw when she saw all of the sweets piled on a cart the lady was pushing. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" she asked.

After debating for a few minutes with Harry and Ron, they ended up getting a few of everything. Ron stared at them both when the compartment door slid shut again. "Starving, much?" he asked in disbelief.

"Not really," said Adele. "We've just never seen these things before."

She started opening a chocolate frog, and jumped when the frog leaped from her hands. Harry was opening a chocolate frog too, and Adele grabbed his frog before it jumped away. She bit its leg off, and it turned back into chocolate. "Who's that on your card, Harry?" Adele asked, and Ron peered over too.

"Dumbledore," Harry read. "So that's Dumbledore?"

"I've got Dumbledore too," Adele said, glancing at the description because the figure wasn't in the picture. They read the description of the card out loud. Adele was half-listening, and heard something about dragon's blood, Nicolas Flamel, and alchemy.

Adele zoned out when the boys began discussing the cards, and absentmindedly wondered where Licorice got off to. A few minutes later, Ron jumped to his feet. "Merlin's beard! What is that!"

Adele jumped into action, and drew her feet onto her seat while looking around; she thought maybe the tarantula from down the train got set loose. Following Ron's pointing finger, Adele's eyes landed on her black cat huddled into a ball by the compartment door. Harry chuckled when he saw what Ron was freaking out about, and Adele climbed down from the seat.

"This is Licorice, Ron," said Adele, picking up her now-awake kitten. "Say hi, Licorice."

"Mew," Licorice pawed at his ribbon and bell.

After that catastrophe waiting to happen was handled, the three of them opened a box of every flavored beans. "You've got to be careful with these," said Ron. "George reckons he ate one that tasted like booger one time."

Adele waved off the warning and plopped one in her mouth, only to bite into it and spit it back into her hand. "Bloody hell!" she shouted, causing Harry and Ron to jump. "I reckon he was probably telling the truth, because I swear this one is fish."

Harry and Ron broke into a fit of laughter, while Adele opened up a pumpkin pastry. "I've had enough of those for a lifetime," she mumbled.

About thirty minutes later, there was a knock on their compartment door. The three of them peered up at it as it slid open, to reveal a chubby-faced boy who looked upset, and a stern looking bushy-haired girl with large front teeth. "Neville lost his toad," said the girl. "Have any of you seen it?"

"Nada," said Adele, glancing sympathetically up at the chubby-faced boy. "But we'll tell you if we do."

"My gram is going to kill me," said the boy.

"Don't worry," said the bushy haired girl. "We'll find your toad, Neville."

Ron picked up his wand, and Adele vaguely recalled him telling Harry and her that Fred told him a spell to turn his rat yellow. Adele was about to tell him that wasn't wise, but the bushy haired girl beat her to speaking. "Oh, are you going to do magic?" she asked, sitting down. "Let's see it then."

"Er- all right." Ron cleared his throat. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow!"

They all waited for something- anything- to happen, but the rat stayed the same color. "Are you sure that's a real spell?" asked the girl. "Well it's not very good. I've read all of our course books, though. I hope they don't spring any new material on us, although I can't see why they would. Can you? Oh, I'm Hermione Granger by the way. And you are?"

She said all of this very fast.

Harry looked at Ron and Adele, but relaxed visibly when he saw that Ron looked stunned too. Adele figured they hadn't read through their course books, but then again they weren't required to. She had just to pass the time.

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.

"Harry Potter," mumbled Harry.

"Are you really?" asked Hermione, causing Harry to wince. "That must make you Adele Paxton?" she turned to face Adele, and Adele nodded blankly. "I heard that you two were friends. I've read all about you both- I got extra books, you know, background reading? You're in Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

"Are we?" asked Adele skeptically, and glanced at Harry who was starting to look sick.

They all began talking about what house they wanted to be in, and Adele had to ask what they meant by houses. Harry looked startled; even he knew what they were talking about.

"There's four houses," said Hermione. "Gryffindor, where the brave and courageous go-"

"My entire family has been in Gryffindor," said Ron.

"-then there's Ravenclaw, where the witty and intelligent go. Hufflepuff is the third house, where the loyal friends and creative minds go. Last is Slytherin, where the ambitious and cunning go."

"All Slytherins are straight-knot gits, though," said Ron.

Hermione excused herself from the compartment to go change into her robes, and Ron looked relieved to have her gone. "Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," he muttered darkly.

They began discussing a few different things; Ron's brothers, Quidditch, and broomsticks. Apparently the broom Adele had spotted in Diagon Alley was the latest model- a Nimbus Two Thousand. They were interrupted yet again though, when the compartment door slid open once more. Three boys stepped through it, and Adele recognized the blonde boy from when she was looking at the broomstick.

Two large and intimidating boys stood on either side of the blonde boy, Draco Malfoy his name was, and looked like bodyguards.

"Is is true?" asked Draco. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter and Adele Paxton are in this compartment? So it's you two, is it?"

Adele stared at him blankly, while Harry nodded slightly. Draco turned his attention to Adele. "I should've known it was you," he said, and turned to Harry. "You too. I'm Draco Malfoy, and this is Crabbe and Goyle."

Ron let out a quiet snigger.

Draco turned to Ron, and glared at him. "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Wealseys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." He turned back to Harry and Adele. "You'll soon find some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter, Paxton. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong crowd. I can help you there."

Draco stuck out his hand, but neither Harry or Adele shook it.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," said Harry coolly.

"And besides, I'm sure we'd rather be friends with people who like us for us, and not people who hang out with us because we're well known or something." Adele stared Draco down.

Although it wasn't the greatest insult ever, she was only eleven, and thought it was pretty damn good for on the spot. Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a slight pink tinge scurried over his pale cheeks.

"I'd be careful if I were you," he said, directing his comment to Harry and Adele. "Unless you're a bit politer, you'll go the same way as your parents-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence, because Adele had jumped to her feet and was getting ready to tackle him to the ground. The two boys recognized as Crabbe and Goyle jumped immediately to Draco's defense, and grabbed Adele by both of her arms. "Let her go!" shouted Harry, holding up his wand with Ron.

"Oh, you're going to fight, are you?" sneered Draco.

"Unless you let her go, and get out now," Harry said slowly.

Draco looked like he was about to object, but voices right outside their compartment stopped him. "What have we got here?" said one of the twin's voices.

Since Adele couldn't see them, she couldn't tell them apart.

"I suggest you let the little one down," said the other twin.

Crabbe and Goyle turned around along with Draco, and Adele was forced to turn around as well. Fred and George stood there smirking with their arms crossed, along with a tall black male with dreadlocks. "And if they don't?" asked Draco.

"Percy the Prefect is just down the hall with the trolley lady," said George.

"We might just happen to come across him on our way back down the train," Fred continued.

"And tip him off about a first year being bullied."

Adele noticed they were both changed into their robes, and realized that her, Ron, and Harry should probably change soon as well. Crabbe and Goyle dropped Adele, and she fell onto her knees with a scowl. "Come on," Draco sneered, leading away his goons.

"You okay?" asked Fred, helping Adele to her feet.

"Fine except for those annoying gits," she replied, rubbing her elbows.

The boy with dreadlocks peered into their compartment, and then back at Adele. "You guys should probably change into your robes- I'm Lee Jordan, by the way. Just call me Lee, though." He stuck out his hand.

"Alright-y, Lee," said Adele, shaking his hand. "Just call me Adele."

"Will do," he smiled.

Adele walked back into their compartment, and shooed Ron and Harry out. Fred handed her trunk to her, and she slid the compartment doors closed. A few seconds later, her other clothes were stashed in the trunk and she was dressed in the required Hogwarts uniform. She picked up Licorice, and much to the kitten's dismay, put him in his cage. A few more seconds later, and she was outside the compartment with Fred, George, and Lee while Ron and Harry were changing.

"So, Adele," started Fred. "What house do you want to be in?"

Adele glanced at him, and then the other two. "Do you even have to ask?" she crossed her arms- she seemed to be doing that a lot today. "Everyone so far who's been asked has said Gryffindor, so I guess Gryffindor."

"We're all in Gryffindor, it's the best house," said George.

"Definitely," agreed Lee.

A few seconds later, Hermione stopped by their compartment. "Are they changing into their robes?" she asked, gesturing to the closed compartment.

"Too right you are, Hermione," Adele said, smiling at the girl.

Just then, a voice echoed throughout the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately." The compartment door slid open to reveal Harry and Ron in their school robes, and all of them headed towards the front of the train.

"Are you nervous?" Adele glanced over to the speaker, and shook her head at Fred. "Not really, although I'm sure Harry is. He's been nervous about this entire day ever since Hagrid came to us."

"How long have you two been friends?" Lee asked, joining in the conversation.

"As long as I can remember," Adele told them, catching up with Harry and Ron as they got off the train and onto a small, dark platform. Adele peered around, trying to see things in the dark of the night, but nothing was particularly popping to her. Suddenly, a familiar voice broke out: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Adele? Harry?"

Hagrid's big, burly face appeared over the sea of heads. "C'mon, follow me- mind your step, now! Firs' years, follow me!"

"Good luck," Fred said to her, before she scurried off to follow Hagrid.

Harry, Ron, and Adele followed Hagrid with a sea of other first years, into a dark inky forest that seemed to scream terror at them. The boy who kept losing his toad, Neville, sniffed a few times, but other than that it was silent.

Hagrid began telling them they'd all get their first look at Hogwarts in a second, but Adele barely heard him. When she stepped around a bend, she felt her breath catch in her throat. _That_ was Hogwarts? It looked absolutely magnificent!

They followed Hagrid to a shore, and were assigned four to a boat. Adele rode in the boat with Harry, Ron, and to Ron's misfortune, Hermione. Adele relaxed a bit when Hagrid found Neville's toad, and the boats started towards the castle. When they finally crossed over the lake, they all piled out of the boat and followed Hagrid up a set of stone steps. They crowded around a huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" Hagrid raised a gigantic fist, and knocked three times on the castle door.


	7. The Sorting and Pranking Plans

A/N: Here is chapter six! I don't own anything, except for a few people/situations. Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter Six<strong>

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><p>The door opened to reveal a rather a tall and stern looking woman, with dark brown hair streaked with grey. Her head was covered with a green pointy hat that matched her emerald colored robes. Her lips were pursed. "She's a bit scary looking," Harry whispered in Adele's ear.<p>

Adele had to agree; this woman looked like someone you definitely shouldn't cross.

"The fir' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take them from here." She pulled the doors open wider, revealing the entrance hall. Adele was one of the few who didn't hold back their amazed gasps- this place was huge. The hall was large, lit torches lined the walls, and a large marble staircase winded up to the higher levels of the castle.

They followed Professor McGonagall across a stone floor. Adele could hear hundreds of loud voices from a door to their right, but they didn't go through that door. Instead, Professor McGonagall lead them into a smaller chamber with dark walls and a dark ceiling. All of them peered around nervously; all silently wondering what they'd have to do to be sorted.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you'll be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony, because while you're here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose your house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the house cup, which is a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes lingered on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and Ron's still smudged nose. Adele watched as Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair, but it was pointless.

That hair had a mind of its own.

"I shall return when we are ready to get you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

"You would think she'd breath a bit in-between monologues," whispered Adele to Harry and Ron.

Harry grinned slightly, but it was soon washed away by his visible nerves. Ron peered around just as nervously, and Adele found herself growing nervous at watching her two friends. "How do you think we're sorted?" asked Harry.

"Some sort of test," Ron told them, figeting with his robes. "Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."

"Maybe we'll have to fight a troll?" joked Adele. Fred and George had told her about all sorts of creatures while they were waiting for Ron and Harry on the train, and trolls were just one of them. Harry's face seemed to drain of any visible color, and he too began figeting with his robes. "Calm down, would you?" whispered Adele. "I was only joking."

They waited for a few moments, and Adele found herself wondering what house she'd be put in. Surely not Slytherin? Ravenclaw didn't seem to be all that bad, but she was really hoping for Gryffindor. Hermione appeared next to her, causing Adele to jump when she began speaking.

"Are you aware you're rather jumpy?" asked Hermione, watching Adele with curious eyes. "Anyway, what do you think we'll have to do for the sorting? I've read all of my course books, and I know most of the spells. Perhaps we'll have to show them our best bit of magic, and then be sorted accordingly? Maybe I'll do…"

Hermione didn't get to finish her sentence, because screams from all around them interrupted her. Adele jumped slightly again, which just annoyed her. Sure, she was jumpy, but it wasn't because she was easily frightened. Her nerves were just on high alert right now. "Are those ghosts?" Adele whispered to Harry, who was staring open-mouthed at the transparent floating figures.

"I say we just need to give Peeves a chance," one of the transparent figures were saying.

"Peeves gives us a bad name- I say, what are you doing here?" They stopped floating now, and were looking at all of the first years.

"New students!" said a rather large one. "About to be sorted, I suppose."

"Yeah, who are you?" Adele asked, while a few people nodded mutely to his question.

"I am the Friar," said the large one. "I hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." Professor McGonagall had returned, and one by one the ghosts disappeared through the adjourning walls.

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "And follow me."

They did just that. Professor McGonagall lead them through a set of double doors, and into the Great Hall. Adele found herself entranced by the ceiling, which looked like the night sky outside. She knew that it was an enchantment, but that didn't make it any less amazing.

On the four tables in the Great Hall were golden goblets and plates, and many students gazing at the first years curiously. "It's bewitched to look like that," Hermione whispered to Adele, referring to the ceiling. "I read it in Hogwarts, A History."

"I know," Adele responded in slight annoyance. She liked that the girl was friendly, but she acted a bit like a know-it-all, which was kind of annoying.

They soon quieted down when Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool down in front of them, and on the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. The hat looked old, used, and dirty; patched and frayed, with what looked like a lot of years of use. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth- the hat began to sing.

Adele leaned behind her, where Harry was, and elbowed him. "Is it just me, or is that hat singing?" she asked.

"No, it's definitely singing," Ron responded from a few spots behind Harry.

"Good, I thought I was losing it."

Adele stopped talking when Professor McGonagall gave her a stern look, and gingerly crossed her arms around her petite frame. At the end of the hat's song, they realized all they had to do was try on the hat.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron voiced her thoughts, earning him his own stern stare from their Professor. "I'll kill Fred," he whispered in a quieter voice.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward, holding a long piece of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will step up to the stool to be sorted," she told the first years, and then read out, "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stepped out of line, and walked up nervously to the hat. After a few moments with the hat on her head, it shouted out, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The table to the far right cheered, and Hannah scurried off to join her new house. A few more people were sorted, until "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left broke into a loud applause. Adele saw Fred and George catcalling.

Adele found herself growing more nervous as the seconds ticked on, but she would never allow anyone to notice. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out, she moved forward as the line grew smaller. Finally, Professor McGonagall shouted out, "Paxton, Adele!"

Adele stepped towards the hat, and the entire Great Hall grew loud with whispers. "That's her?" a voice asked. "She's so little," said another voice. She sat down on the stool, and the last thing she saw before the hat covered her eyes were people straining to get a better look at her.

After a few seconds of silence in the darkness, a voice spoke up. Adele jumped when it spoke, and realized when chuckles and giggles could be heard in the Great Hall, that she had jumped visibly enough for people to notice. "A Paxton, eh?" said the voice, who she realized was the hat.

The hat seemed to be talking to her in her head. "I can see you're courageous and ready for an adventure- Gryffindor would be a perfect place for that, but I can also see you're mischievous and ambitious; Slytherin would be a good house for you as well. Not to mention, it would help you with your other state-"

_Other state?_ Adele asked silently.

"Yes, yes, but then I also see you've got a great longing for learning, and you're quite witty, are you? More than anything is your fierce loyalty to your friends if something dangerous were to threaten them, better make it…GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted out the house out loud, and Adele was relieved when it was taken from her head.

The house to the far left, Gryffindor house, broke into a deafening applause. Adele glanced at Ron and Harry, who were grinning at her, and scampered off to the Gryffindor table. She took a seat across from Fred and George, and their older brother, Percy the Prefect. "Why did the hat take such a long time sorting you?" asked Fred.

"Did it? I hadn't noticed," Adele mumbled, turning her attention back to the hat when Hermione's name was called.

After a moment's hesitation, the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Adele let out a soft chuckle when she saw Ron groan. Hermione sat next to Adele, and they watched as others were sorted. Finally, the hat called Harry's name. Harry tripped over his feet on his way to the stool, and Adele lifted a hand to her forehead. "Oh, Harry," she mumbled.

The reaction to him was almost the same as the reaction to her; people strained to get a better look at him, and whispers filled the hall once more.

"At least he didn't jump when the hat was put on his head," remarked George.

"Yeah, we could've sworn you jumped five feet in the air, even McGonagall smiled," teased Fred.

Adele narrowed her eyes at them, and then turned away. They watched as Harry sat there with the hat on his head, waiting to be sorted. Hermione leaned over to whisper in Adele's ear, "He's taking just as long to be sorted as you were."

Finally when Harry was sorted into Gryffindor, he raced over to Adele's other side and took a seat next to her. "We got Adele Paxton _and_ Harry Potter!" yelled Fred and George together, as the Gryffindor table went crazy.

When Ron, along with five others, were sorted into Gryffindor as well, the Sorting Ceremony came to an end. Adele blushed when her stomach let out a loud gurgle, and stared at her empty golden plate with Harry. Albus Dumbledore got to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his blue eyes twinkling and arms opened wide, as if nothing could please him more than seeing them all there.

"Welcome," said the headmaster. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. Here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He sat back down, and everyone clapped and cheered. "I'm not sure if I should laugh, or be worried for his mental health," Adele whispered, but loud enough for the people around her to hear.

"Is he - a bit mad?" Harry asked Percy uncertainly.

"Mad," said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"

Adele watched as Harry's jaw fell open when the empty platters in front of them started piling high with food. Adele held her grumbling stomach, and grabbed everything within reach. She hadn't been surprised because she read about it in Hogwarts, A History, but she still thought it was absolutely amazing. House elves were sure great cooks.

The food was delicious.

When Harry began an awkward conversation with a ghost named Nearly Headless Nick, or Sir Nicholas as he preferred to be called, Adele engaged in conversation with her new housemates.

"So, what was it like living with muggles?" asked a boy who's name was Seamus Finnigan.

"Horrid," answered Adele, taking a bite out of her chicken. "If it weren't for Harry, I probably would've gone mental."

Adele noticed Fred watching her with a penetrating gaze as she climbed onto her knees, and reached across the table for a roll. "You could've just asked us to get you one, you know," said Fred, but grinned nonetheless.

What happened next seemed to go down in slow motion; Adele found her gaze trailing down the long table, and meeting with Professor Quirrell's. Harry's hand clamped over his forehead and he exclaimed an, "Ouch!" at the same time Adele sucked in her breath, and fell back onto her seat. Her hand flew to her neck, and caressed it for a few moments before the pain lifted.

"Are you two okay?" asked Percy, looking concerned.

"F-fine," stuttered Harry, removing his hand.

"Just peachy," Adele grumbled.

"Who's that teacher sitting next to Professor Quirrell?" asked Harry to Percy.

Adele picked up her conversation with the others, but listened halfheartedly in interest to Percy and Harry's conversation as well. "Oh, you know Quirrell, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to - everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about Dark Arts, Snape."

After the food disappeared, dessert came in its place. Adele grabbed for a treacle tart when Harry pulled her towards him.

"You felt that too?" he whispered. "I was looking straight at the Professor sitting next to Professor Quirrell when it happened, do you think-"

"I don't," interrupted Adele. "I was looking at Quirrell when I felt it, so it must have been nothing. Don't worry about it, Harry."

Adele took a bite out of her treacle tart. After some more discussing random things, the dessert disappeared as well. Dumbledore stood up and made some more announcements, but Adele was barely listening; something about a list of things the caretaker banned, the Forbidden Forest being forbidden for a reason- he glanced at the Weasley twins when he said this- and something about a corridor being off limits.

After singing the school song, the Gryffindor first years were lead to their common room by Percy. Fred and George strolled along with Adele, discussing something about a back-to-school prank they wanted her to help with.

"What exactly do you want my help with?" asked Adele, just as Percy was warning them about a ghost named Peeves.

"Just a few things," said Fred.

"Meet us in the common room at eleven tonight," said George.

They walked into the Gryffindor common room after Percy said the password to the painting of the Fat Lady, which was Caput Draconis, and Adele nodded her consent at the twins before they scampered off to talk to Lee. Adele recognized the black girl from Madam Malkin's, Angelina her name was, who was standing next to Lee. Angelina waved energetically at Adele. "Glad you made it into our house!" she said from across the room. "How do you know her?" she heard Lee ask Angelina.

"Glad I did too," Adele responded happily, and then turned to Harry and Ron.

"I'm going to go to bed, actually," Harry said. "I'll see you in the morning, Adele?"

"You can bet on it," she said, hugging her friend.

Adele watched as Ron and Harry climbed up their dormitory steps, and then climbed up to the girl's dormitory. She walked until she found the first year's dorm, and pushed the door open. There were five four-poster beds, with maroon and gold sheets and comforters, and all but one bed was taken. Four girls sat on the beds, and Adele recognized one of them as Hermione, and another as the Lavender girl who was sorted.

Adele sat down on the bed without a girl on it, and saw her trunk at the foot of the bed. "So, you're Adele Paxton?" asked Lavender. "I love your hair!"

"Gee, thanks," said Adele with a crooked smile.

Hermione's bed was next to Adele's, and on the other side was one of the girl's Adele didn't recognize. "I'm Lavender Brown," said Lavender. "That's Parvati Patil, and that's-"

"Hermione, I know," Adele cut in.

"Oh, alright. Well the girl over there won't talk to us, but I think her name is Courtney Adams." The girl named Courtney looked up from a magazine she was reading, and glared at Lavender.

"Don't say my name unless it's important," she told Lavender.

Lavender looked at the other three girls nervously, and cleared her throat. "All right, then. Anyways, uh, what kind of blood are you?" she asked Adele.

Hermione looked up from the book she was reading, obviously curious about Adele's answer. "Well, both of my parents were wizards, if that's what you mean," Adele told them uneasily.

"Do you have muggles in your family?" asked Parvati, and Adele nodded. "Then I guess you're mixed. I'm mixed too."

"Same," said Lavender. "What about you, Hermione?"

Hermione set down her book now, and looked a bit uncertain. "I'm muggleborn," she finally said. "My parents are dentists."

"That's cool," Adele put in, noticing Hermione's discomfort. "Don't worry about it, Hermione."

The girl named Courtney let out an annoyed sigh, and started pulling the curtains around her bed closed. "Did we do something to offend you?" asked Adele, standing up from her bed in annoyance. What was this girl's problem? Adele didn't think they were being anything less than friendly!

"You are now by talking to me," said Courtney, forcefully closing her curtains completely.

"Well, then," said Lavender, turning her gaze away from Courtney's closed-off bed. "I'm going to go to bed."

The other two girls agreed with her, and Adele was left back on her bed and staring at the clock on her nightstand. She had ten minutes until she had to meet Fred and George in the common room, and decided to sit on the window seat that overlooked the castle grounds. She felt a pull when she glanced at the moon, and found a lot of thoughts crossing her mind, but more than anything was the thought of her parents. Would they be proud of her? What houses were they in? Her eyes forcefully tore away from the moon to glance at the clock.

She let her eyes flutter closed, and pressed her cheek against the cold glass window. Five minutes to go.

What did the Sorting Hat mean by her 'other state'? She opened one eye.

Three minutes.

At least her housemates were friendly enough, minus that Courtney girl.

Adele pulled herself off the window seat, and put on her pajamas before she headed down to the common room; a long-sleeved maroon shirt, and a pair of green plaid boxer shorts. She was lucky that Gryffindor colors were maroon and gold, because any forms of red were her favorite colors, and she didn't dislike the color gold.

Adele put her hair into a messy bun, and walked down the dormitory stairs and into the common room. Fred and George were there, along with Lee and Angelina, and another girl Adele didn't recognize.

"Finally you made it," Fred said, walking over. "Took you long enough."

Adele glanced at the clock above the fireplace. "It's exactly eleven," she told him, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, well," George gestured to the couch and chairs surrounding the fire, "Take a seat."

She, along with everyone else, plopped into the seats. She was sitting in-between Angelina and the other girl on the couch, while the three boys took the three chairs scattered around. "I'm Katie Bell," said the unfamiliar girl.

"Adele Paxton." Adele shook Katie's hand as well as she could in the position she was in, but was glad to meet another friendly face either way.

"Moving on," said Lee. "We still have no idea why we're here."

"Right, right," said George.

"We've come up with-"

"A good prank for-"

"The first year boys-"

"And some other unlucky souls-"

"Who happen to catch our eye-"

"And we want your help," finished Fred.

"You're lucky you're a first year girl," Katie whispered to Adele.

Adele groaned. "But, Harry-"

"Can survive." Fred pulled out a bag of familiar looking candies.

George pulled out a similar bag, only instead of the green color Fred was holding, George's bag was full of yellow circular candies. "I've got a bag of pink and green ones up in my room," Adele told them, glancing up at the twins.

"How'd you manage that?" asked Lee, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, all of our things get checked for banned items on Filch's list," added Angelina.

Adele surveyed them. "I have my ways," she finally said.

The truth was, Adele had the candies in her pockets during the Hogwarts Express ride. Her screaming yo-yo, on the other hand, was confiscated with only a note saying she'd get it back at the end of term left in its place.

"Mysterious," George observed.

"We respect that," Fred opened the bag of green candies. "But save yours for something else."

Adele nodded in response, already knowing what she would do with them. Fred and George passed out a green and yellow candy to each of them, and kept the rest. "Adele, you can give one of those to Harry tomorrow. Angelina, make sure to slip one to Seamus, and Katie can give one to Neville. Fred and I will handle Ron, and the rest of them you can give to whomever."

Adele glanced at the candies in her hand, and then at the people around her. "Yes, sirs," she finally said, standing to her feet. "I'm going to bed now."

Everyone wished her a quiet goodnight, and she climbed back up to her dormitory. When she reached her dorm, she took her own hair color changing candies from her suitcase, and peered at them. She knew what she wanted to do with them, but she wasn't sure how she'd get Fred or George to eat them. Surely they wouldn't except pink circular candies from her- especially after tonight.

Adele pushed open Hermione's curtains, and watched the girl sleeping soundly in her bed. Should she…? Deciding to risk getting the girl mad, Adele shook Hermione awake. "'Mione," she whispered. "I need your help really quick."

Hermione groaned quietly, but after enough prodding from Adele, she sat up. "What is it?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. "Is it morning already? Did something happen?"

"I need you to help me with something," Adele whispered.

Adele had Hermione's attention at the word 'help', and listened intently to her story about what Fred and George were planning. "And so," Adele concluded. "I was wondering if you knew an incantation that could turn these candies into liquid once they've touched another liquid."

Hermione squinted at Adele, surveying her face. "All right," she finally said. "I can't promise anything, and I don't normally approve of rule-breaking- you could get into a lot of trouble in some cases. But I've heard about those twins, and they could probably use this…Like I said, I can't promise this will work, but it's worth a try…"

Adele held out the two pink candies in her hand, and Hermione grabbed her wand from the nightstand. "Aguamentato," whispered Hermione, pointing her wand at the candies. "That should work, I read about that spell in one of the books I picked up for background reading. Sorry if it doesn't," Hermione glanced out the window. "Since it's still dark, I'm going to go back to bed. Goodnight, Adele."

"Night 'Mione," said Adele, crawling back into her own bed without closing the curtains. She set the candies on her bedside table, excited to use them on Fred and George tomorrow morning.


	8. Potions Professor and Avoiding

A/N: Here's chapter seven! I'm halfway through chapter eight. C:

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><p><strong>Chapter Seven<strong>

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><p>The following morning, Adele walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast with Hermione. She would've walked with Harry and Ron too, but Ron threw a fit when she told him she was waiting for Hermione. Fred and George winked at her when she took her seat at the Gryffindor table, and she grinned back. "They have no idea," Hermione whispered in her ear, and smiled a little.<p>

Adele turned slightly to the girl. "Let's keep it that way."

"So, Adele, how are you this fine morning?" Fred asked, glancing at Harry and Ron.

"Fine," Adele responded carelessly, grabbing a blueberry muffin from one of the platters. "People keep staring at me when they think I'm not looking, and two first years and a second year have asked me to the first Quidditch game of the season…"

George snorted.

Harry lifted his hand to his goblet, causing Fred and George to watch on eagerly, but took his hand away when he suddenly thought of something. "People keep staring at me too," Harry told Adele from across the table. "I really hope they stop though, it's hard enough finding classes without…"

Adele smiled sadly at Harry, and then rolled her eyes when she turned back to Fred and George. Leaning over the table, she casually dropped the candies in their goblets, and pretended to retie Fred's tie. "Really Fred," she muttered. "You'd think you'd notice that your tie is tied wrong."

When she sat back down in her seat, Fred shared a look with George. "All right, mum," said George, smiling goofily.

Adele shared her own look with Hermione, who took a sip of her goblet with a small smile. Only, Adele wished she could've stopped Hermione. As soon as she swallowed the pumpkin juice in her goblet, Hermione's entire head of bushy brown hair turned a bright yellow. Adele's eyes grew wide, and she slowly set her own goblet back on the table. "Don't freak out 'Mione," Adele started, putting a hand over her mouth. "But your hair is bright…yellow."

"It's what?" Hermione asked slowly, but Adele didn't get a chance to respond.

"Ron, your hair is green!" shouted Harry, pointing at Ron's head of green hair.

Suddenly, many different people, including all the first year boys minus Harry, had green or yellow hair. All heads instantly turned to Fred and George, who were the ones laughing the most at everyone's misfortune. Adele was torn between laughing and trying to keep a straight face for Hermione and Ron's sake. She'd be able to laugh as soon as…

"I'd say we did good, Georgie," said Fred, lifting his goblet.

"I'd say so too, Freddie," said George, clinking his goblet with Fred's. "Cheers, then."

Hermione and Adele watched as they took swigs out of their goblets, waiting not so patiently for the color changing to happen. "Did it not work?" Hermione whispered frantically into Adele's ear. Adele glanced at Hermione, who was fingering her yellow hair with tears in her eyes.

"It'll be fine, 'Mione," Adele comforted, feeling bad for her new friend.

Before Adele could decide whether or not their prank on Fred and George worked out though, both twins yelled, "Your hair- it's pink!"

The hectic Gryffindor table slowly grew quiet, and the other tables watching the commotion grew quiet as well. Everyone turned towards Fred and George, who's normally fiery red hair was a bubblegum pink. Adele was the first one to burst into laughter, and laughed harder when Dumbledore put up a hand to prevent one of the Professors from coming over.

Both twins turned towards Adele. "You did this?" asked Fred.

"Well done," said George, an evil grin replacing his shock. "But I do hope you know this means revenge."

"You too, Hermione," said Fred. "Don't think we don't know you helped her with this."

Adele bit into her muffin again. "Isn't turning her hair yellow revenge enough?"

The twins looked at each other, and then back at Adele. "No," they chorused.

"Besides," Fred continued.

"It's already wearing off," said George.

Ron, from a bit down the table, caught Adele's attention. "How did you get it into liquid?" he asked. "They only sell the candies last time I checked."

Adele nudged her head at Hermione, causing Ron to look surprised and slightly impressed. His strong dislike for the girl, however, stopped him from saying so. "Adele," Harry's voice sounded from behind her, and she turned around in surprise. She hadn't even realized that Harry got up from the table.

"Hiya, Harry," she said, sliding out of her seat as well. "Off to class, then?"

Harry grinned and nodded, and Adele followed him out of the Great Hall with Ron and Hermione- much to Ron's annoyance. "I'd be careful, if I were you," Ron told her. "Fred and George mean it when they say they'll get their revenge."

Adele shrugged. "What classes do you guys have first?" She showed them their schedule, which was:

**Monday**

Potions (first period)

Defense Against the Dark Arts (second period)

**Tuesday **

Charms (first period)

History of Magic (second period)

**Wednesday **

Potions (first period)

Herbology (second period)

Astronomy (midnight)

**Thursday **

Charms (first period)

Transfiguration (third period)

**Friday **

Double Potions (first period)

All four of them had the same schedule, although that wasn't really a surprise; McGonagall _did_ say they would be having classes with their house, and they were all first years. When they arrived in Potions, Harry and Ron sat at a table in the far back of the room, and with a few convincing on Adele's part, Adele and Hermione sat at the table in front of Ron and Harry.

"At least your hair is turning back to red," Adele was telling Ron; Hermione's hair was already back to the natrual chocolate brown. "I'm not sure how long Fred and George's hair will stay pink."

And sure enough, after a long day of classes and people crowding Adele and Harry, Fred and George walked into the common room with full heads of pink hair. Ron's hair had gone back to normal around lunch that day. "How long is this going to last?" asked Fred, sitting down next to Adele on the couch.

Adele glanced up from the book she was reading, and stared at the twins. "Beats me," she said finally. "I thought you two said the green lasted longer?"

"It did!" George shouted. "I mean, it does! It must be the spell that Hermione did on it."

Adele shut her book, and leaned forward to set it on the table. "Sucks for you guys then, doesn't it?" She found herself grinning.

"Just you wait, Paxton," Fred said, as both of the twins put their arms around her. "You'll see what happens when you prank us."

"I bet," Adele said, struggling to get to her feet. "Can I go, though? I've got a Potions essay due on Friday…"

"What do you think, Fred?" asked George, tightening his grip.

"I think we want to spend some quality time with Ms. Paxton here, George," said Fred, tightening his grip as well.

Adele glanced at them both, and sucked in a huge breath. "HARRY! HERMIONE! RON! HELP! HEEEEEELP!"

Her scream echoed all around the common room, and seconds later Fred and George jumped to their feet at the sound of footsteps pounding down both sets of stairs. Hermione, Lavender, and Katie Bell appeared at one side, and Harry, Ron, Seamus, and Dean appeared at the other set. "What happened?" Harry asked, looking between Adele and the twins.

"I was being held against my will," Adele said, smirking at the twins and walking towards Lavender, Hermione, and Katie.

"Bloody hell," muttered Ron, running a hand through his hair. "You scared us."

"Yeah, Adele," scolded Hermione. "Don't worry us like that."

"Sorry, "Adele said, starting to feel slightly bad.

Everyone went back to what they were doing, while Adele followed the girls back up the stairs, and Fred and George exchanged a look that clearly read, "This one's a handful."

The rest of the week passed by slowly, but Adele couldn't think of anywhere else she'd rather be. It was Friday morning, and her first weekend at Hogwarts was approaching. She had no idea what she would do, but one thing on her list was exploring…and staying clear of Fred and George who still had yet to prank her back.

They didn't let her forget it was coming, though.

Adele was walking down the hallway with Harry and Ron now, heading towards the Great Hall for breakfast. "Where are you keeping Licorice, anyway?" Harry was asking.

"He likes to wander around the castle," Adele replied. "I barely see him, maybe twice a day."

When they walked into the Great Hall, Hermione was saving Adele a seat. Harry and Ron took a seat across from them. They started putting up with Hermione in order to please Adele, but Adele could tell that neither boy was quite too fond of the know-it-all girl.

"What have we got today?" Harry asked, pouring sugar into his porridge.

"Double Potions with the Slytherins," Ron said, causing Adele to groan. She still couldn't stand the Slytherins, more specifically, she couldn't stand Draco Malfoy. "Snape's head of Slytherin House. They say he favors them - we'll be able to see if it's true."

"Wish McGonagall favored us," muttered Harry, staring into his porridge with a scowl.

"_Professor_ McGonagall," said Hermione, causing Adele to wince. "Doesn't favor students because that would be unfair treatment."

Adele shook her head when Ron replied, "Of course it would be."

If Hermione wanted to be accepted, she was doing a terrible job at it. Just then, the mail arrived, and Adele watched on as kids got letters or packages from their family members. She caught Harry watching on as well, but she didn't call him on it. Both of them obviously wished they had someone who would send them something, but the Dursley's and Adele's aunt and uncle were as likely to send them something as they were to come to Hogwarts themselves.

This time, however, a letter did arrive for Harry. Adele stood up and peered at it as Harry opened it with wide eyes, and they both relaxed when they realized it was from Hagrid.

Dear Harry,

I didn't bother to send another letter to Adele, so if she's around this is for her too. I would like you to come for tea after your classes today, to hear about your first week of school. Send your reply back with Hedwig.

Hagrid

"You up for some tea, then?" Adele asked Harry, who nodded.

"Adele, would you please sit down," Hermione asked. "It's rude to lean over the table like that."

Adele narrowed her eyes in annoyance, but sat back down anyway. Harry scribbled their reply down on the parchment, and sent Hedwig off again.

Adele, Harry, and Ron headed off to Double Potions after breakfast, leaving Hermione at the table after she'd lectured Ron about getting a haircut, and Adele about how she called her professors by their names and not 'Professor This' or 'Professor That'. "She's bloody out of her mind," Ron was saying. "I warned you, didn't I?"

"Oh, shut up, Ron," Adele remarked, waving him off.

When they reached the dungeons, Adele had to rub her arms and hold her robes tighter around herself; it was freezing in there. She glanced around the dungeons skeptically, wanting very badly to give it an upbeat makeover. Preferably Gryffindor colors, just for Snape…

Snape, like Professor Flitwick, started out class by taking roll call. He paused at Adele's name. "Ah, yes," he said softly. "Adele Paxton, one of our new celebrities, and then there's Harry Potter."

Draco and his Slytherin friends sniggered rudely, but Snape didn't even glance at them. He finished taking roll, and stared down at the class. His eyes were beady and cold like the goblins Adele had seen, but his hair was what made Adele cringe; it was greasy and black, and hung around his face like string.

Adele was sitting next to Lavender Brown, but started to feel bad when Hermione cast her a confused glance from her seat across the room. Harry and Ron sat at the table in front of Adele and Lavender. Snape went into a lecture about how that class wasn't some useless wand-waving magic, but actual potion making with ingredients and cauldrons. He then proceeded to call them dunderheads.

Adele scowled.

Hermione looked like the only one in the class who wasn't offended, and instead was on the edge of her seat with excitement at proving she wasn't one.

"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Adele knew the answer, and obviously Hermione did too as she rose her hand high in the air, but Harry looked about as clueless as ever.

"I don't know, sir," said Harry.

Snape's lips curled into a sneer, causing Adele's scowl to grow more sinister. What got Snape's wand in a knot? He was worse than Courtney was- who, by the way, had tripped Adele on her way out of the common room the other morning. Thankfully, Angelina Johnson had been in front of her to stop her fall.

"Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything." He ignored Hermione's wiggling hand.

"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" Hermione's hand stretched even higher, and Adele put a hand to her forehead. Was she trying to get herself into trouble? Adele tried not to look at Draco and his goons, who were shaking with silent laughter.

"I don't know, sir," Harry repeated.

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Adele cringed as Harry kept staring into Snape's cold, beady dark eyes. Snape was still ignoring Hermione's quivering hand.

"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfs bane?" At this, Hermione's hand was stretching towards the dungeon ceiling.

Adele was about to lose her patience with the Potions Professor, but tried her hardest to keep her temper under control.

"I don't know," Harry said yet again. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"

A few people laughed at that, but Adele wasn't one of them. "Sit down!" Snape snapped at Hermione, and Adele found her temper flaring its ugly head.

"That's not fair!" she shouted, getting to her feet. "You're targeting Harry, while you just let those laughing gits over there do what they please in the meantime! And you won't even let Hermione answer the questions, which she obviously knows! You're the one who called us dunderheads, aren't you? Yet you won't even let anyone prove that their not!" Adele took a deep breath, and stared Snape in his shocked eyes. "That's not fair," she repeated. "It's only the first week of school, do you expect Harry to have read through every little detail of his book? He couldn't even take his books out when his family was around, let alone read every single thing."

"Silence!" bellowed an outraged Snape, and the class grew silent in shock at Adele's outburst. "Fifty points from Gryffindor for interrupting your Professor, and another fifty points for back talking! And I take it, Ms. Paxton, that since you're vouching for Potter over here, that you know the answers to the questions I've asked?"

Adele stayed silent.

"Well?" pressured Snape. "I guess not, then? Detention seems in order, then."

"The first question," Adele spoke up, causing Snape to turn back around. "The answer is the Drought of Living Death. The second question's answer is the stomach of a goat, and it will save you from most poisons. The third answer is that there is no difference."

Snape looked absolutely murderous, and Adele was seconds away from cowering in fear. She, however, forced herself to stand her ground. After a few seconds, Snape turned back around. "Correct," he said slowly. "You will serve detention with me on Friday night of next week, however, for your rude actions."

"What!" Ron shouted, but was silenced by Snape's furious look.

"Do you wish to join her? Very well then, Mr. Weasley," said Snape.

Adele shot Ron an apologetic glance, but he waved her off. The rest of the class consisted of making a potion, where Hermione and Adele had the best ones, although Snape didn't admit that. When Neville's cauldron blew up, Harry received a detention as well for not helping him. "Sir, you told us not to speak," Hermione said quietly.

And by the end of the period, Adele, Ron, Harry, and Hermione all had detention with Snape on Friday night next week.

"At least it's not during the weekend," Adele said to Harry and Ron, as they headed for Hagrid's hut. "That would've been horrible."

Adele had offered Hermione to come with, but she declined when Ron shot her a glare. They stopped in front of a small wooden house on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door. Adele lifted her fist and pounded on the door, and loud booming barks caused all three of them to take a slow step back.

"Hang on," Hagrid's voice yelled. "Back, Fang!" He let them in, struggling to keep hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound. There was only one room inside, and hams and pheasants hung from the ceiling. A kettle of water was boiling over an open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.

Much to Adele's surprise, her black kitten Licorice was curled up on the bed. "Licorice is here?" she asked Hagrid.

"Found the little thing wanderin' the grounds," he replied. "Thought he'd be better off in here than out there, where somethin' could snatch him up."

"Thanks," said Adele, sitting down next to her kitten.

Harry introduced Ron to Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and setting out rock cakes onto a plate.

"Another Weasley, eh?" asked Hagrid. "I spent half of me time chasin' yer brothers away from the Forbidden Forest."

Adele didn't have to ask to know that Hagrid was talking about Fred and George, and apparently neither did Harry or Ron. Adele was about to take a bite from one of the rock cakes, but Licorice swatted it out of her hands. Thank goodness too, because Ron looked just about ready to throw up when he tried to take a bite out of one.

Adele noticed Fang seemed to take a liking to Harry.

She snorted when Hagrid referred to Filch as "that old git", and Ron and Harry looked amused too. She knew she liked Hagrid for a reason.

"'An as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like ter introduce her to Fang sometime. D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school, she follows me everywhere. Can't get rid of her - Filch puts her up to it." Harry and Ron told Hagrid about Snape's lesson while Adele played with Licorice, but she was forced to stop when Ron started telling about her outburst.

"Yeh shouldn't be doing that," Hagrid told her. "He's yer Professor, yeh could'a got inter a lot more trouble than yeh did."

Adele glared at Ron, who put up his hands in response and mouthed 'sorry'. Adele only rolled her eyes, and glanced around for Licorice. The cat was gone, though. Oh well, she thought, as she took a seat next to Harry and Ron at the table.

"How's yer brother, Charlie?" Hagrid asked Ron. "I liked him a lot, he was good with animals."

While Ron went on telling Hagrid about Charlie, Adele zoned out. Her attention got caught by a piece of paper, though, that was sitting underneath the teapot. Pulling it out, Adele realized it was a cutting from the wizarding newspaper- The Daily Prophet.

'GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST', read the headline. Adele nudged Harry, and passed the newspaper clipping to him.

"Hagrid," said Harry. "This says the Gringotts break-in was the day of mine and Adele's birthday! It might have been happening while we were there!"

There was no doubt about it, Hagrid didn't meet Harry's eyes or even reply; it was definitely suspicious. He grunted and offered him another rock cake, instead.

Later on, as they walked back to the castle, Harry was positive Hagrid was hiding something that he knew about Snape. "Are you sure it's Snape, Harry? I mean, I don't like him either at all, but…" Adele was hesitant.

"Positive!" said Harry.

When they arrived back in the common room, Courtney was waiting for Adele by the staircase. "This can't be good," Adele groaned, waving goodbye to Ron and Harry who climbed up to their dormitory to change.

"Adele," the girl looked hesitant, as if second-guessing herself. After a long moment of silence, "I need your help," Courtney finally said.

Adele looked at her curiously, although a bit annoyed that she was asking for her help after being so rude to her. "With what?"

"I can't discuss it here," she looked around for a second. "We need a place more private."

"I know a place," said Adele, remembering a secret passageway she'd come across three days ago when trying to avoid Fred and George. "I'm going to go change really quick, but I'll meet you down here in a second."

Adele waited for a smart remark, but the girl looked too nervous to even manage a snarl or a glare. Now she was really starting to worry- what was wrong with Courtney? Adele had only known her for a week, but just in that short amount of time, the girl had proven to be quite a nuisance. When Adele reached her dormitory, she changed into a pair of jeans and pulled on Lavender's soft pink sweatshirt that Lavender let her borrow.

Adele had bought pretty much everything in Diagon Alley, but sweatshirts completely escaped her mind. It was rather stupid too, because the castle was very cool.

Adele pulled out her long braided hair, and let the braids fall over her shoulders. When she climbed back into the common room, she saw Fred and George sitting on a couch trying to talk to Courtney. Courtney though, obviously wasn't nervous enough to converse with the twins.

"Ready, then?" Courtney asked, standing to her feet.

Adele nodded, glanced at the twins, and lead Courtney out of the common room.

"Where are you going?" Fred called after her, but Adele ignored him.

When they were back in the corridors, Adele glanced around for any passerby, and moved a large painting that hung on the wall. A door that blended in with the wall was on the other side, and Adele opened it.

"How did you find this place?" asked Courtney, walking into the small tunnel. Adele shut the door behind them, and started walking through the tunnel.

"I was avoiding some people," Adele told her, not at all uncomfortable that Courtney now knew one of her probably soon-to-be private places. "I wasn't looking where I was going, and ran into the painting since it sort of sticks off of the wall, you know? Anyway, I noticed the knob when I went to move the painting back, and what do you know? I found this place."

"Er, what exactly is 'this place'?" asked Courtney, following behind Adele.

"You'll see."

When they finally came to a halt, they were standing in the opening of a cave. Courtney took a slow step forward, and then gasped. "This is amazing!" she whispered, holding a hand to her mouth.

"It is," agreed Adele, sitting down so her legs dangled over the edge.

Adele guessed it was part of the mountains that Hogwarts was built on. The truth was, the past couple nights, she found herself going to this place because it had perfect view of the moon. Not to mention, it overlooked the lake, which was always a bonus. Slowly, Courtney lowered herself next to Adele. "You wanted my help?" Adele asked, turning her head towards Courtney.

Courtney ran a hand through her long ebony hair, and let out an even longer sigh. "It's my mum," she said finally. "She's in the hospital, and I just don't know anymore. I haven't really been in a great mood because of it…"

"I haven't noticed," Adele said sarcastically, but then lightened up a bit. "What do you need my help with?"

She knew what it felt like to miss your mum, in fact Adele herself spent a lot of time missing both her mum and her dad. "There's a rumor going around that you're really good at making people happier," said Courtney.

Adele rose an eyebrow at her. "That I make people happier?" she asked. "I wonder who came up with that one?" It was definitely a new one. Adele didn't have any spectacular power at making people feel better, though she would definitely try when someone she liked even a little bit was upset. Not that she'd had to worry about that the past week, except maybe with Hermione a few times.

But then again, she didn't want to make Courtney even more upset- she could end up taking out her negative emotions on Adele again. "You have fun," Adele told her. "That always makes people feel better. Instead of closing off all of us, join in on our conversations and stuff. You know, I won't complain if you sit with us during classes or in the Great Hall either. As long as you don't trip me again…"

Courtney chuckled at that, and smiled slightly. "All right, I might just take you up on that offer."

"Wicked." Adele turned her attention back to the sky and lake.

After a while, Courtney excused herself, and left Adele alone.

* * *

><p>Fred sat in the common room with his twin brother, and glanced at the portrait opening when the girl he'd been trying to talk to earlier came through it. "Is Adele with you?" George asked.<p>

"Um, no," said the girl after a few seconds.

"Where is she?" asked Fred, standing up from the couch.

"I'm not sure that I'm suppose to tell you that," answered the girl, and then disappeared back up the stairs to the girl's dormitory.

Fred turned to George, who was already looking at him. "You thinking what I am, Georgie?" asked Fred, taking out a slip of parchment.

"Read my mind, Freddie."

Fred wasn't sure why he was so curious about the first year girl, who had basically everybody up on their toes. At first he thought it was the Veela in her, but after she had pulled that prank on him and George, he knew that it wasn't just that. She was a fellow prankster, so he was allowed to be curious. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," the twins chorused together.

They tapped the parchment with their wands, and the Marauder's Map appeared. After peering at the map for a moment, George looked up.

"She's not on here."

Fred nodded at his twin. "No, she's not. Do you reckon she's found…"

"Of course she hasn't, Fred. Don't be stupid, she's only been here for a week."

Fred shrugged and grinned. They put the Marauder's Map away after Mischief Managing it, and walked down to the Great Hall for dinner.

* * *

><p>Adele finally pulled herself away from her thoughts when her stomach let out a large grumble, and made her way out of the secret passage and to the Great Hall. When she got there, she plopped down in-between Hermione and Lavender. Harry and Ron weren't there yet. "Where have you been?" asked Hermione, staring Adele down.<p>

Adele didn't have to answer though, because just then Courtney walked up to them. "Do you, er, mind if I sit here?"

Adele scooted closer to Hermione to make room, and Courtney took a seat. Lavender and Hermione were staring with wide eyes at Courtney. There was an awkward silence.

"So, flying lessons tomorrow?" Courtney spoke up.

It was like a large elephant had been chilling in the Great Hall, and left to go find somewhere else to take up space. Courtney was deep in conversation with Lavender, when Hermione turned to Adele after finishing her conversation with Neville. "Do you know how to fly a broom?"

Adele looked at her. "Not a clue."

From across the table and to the far right, Adele barely registered one of the twin's gazes on her. That was, until, Ron sat down with Harry across from them. "You know, Fred is staring a hole into you," said Ron. "I reckon they're going to get even with you soon, Adele."

"Great," she muttered. "Now I've got to take avoiding to a whole new level."


	9. Flying and Nighttime Duels

A/N: Here is chapter eight! Thanks for the review, that made me smiiile. :D I hope you guys enjoy! Finally some action-y stuff..

Also, since Fred is two years older than Adele is, he'll probably develop feelings for her before she even thinks about boys as something other than friends.

Y'know?

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you sticking through it with me 'till the end!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Eight<strong>

* * *

><p>Adele spent the weekend steering clear of Fred and George, and getting to know her dorm mates better. The following week, she spent listening to Harry go on about how much he hated Draco Malfoy. Adele wasn't a huge fan of the blonde haired monster, but she'd also heard Harry tell her and Ron everything he hated about Draco at least twice.<p>

The bright side was, flying lessons would be starting that Thursday afternoon. Of course, with every bright side there just had to be a downfall- Gryffindor and Slytherin would have the lessons together.

"Typical," said Harry darkly. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."

Both Adele and Harry had been looking forward to learning how to fly, what with Ron going on and on about how amazing Quidditch was. Apparently the twins were on the Gryffindor Quidditch team as Beaters.

"It'll be all right, Harry," convinced Adele. "You don't even know if you're horrible on a broom yet."

"I agree with Adele," said Ron. "Anyway, Malfoy keeps going on and on about how good he is on a broom. I think he's full of dung, though."

Draco Malfoy certainly did talk a lot about flying. He went into this over-exaggerated speech at the Slytherin table, that was loud enough for all of the Gryffindors and some of the Ravenclaws to overhear; it was about how first years should be allowed on the Quidditch team. Then again, Malfoy wasn't the only one going crazy with tales on brooms. Seamus Finnigan, from Gryffindor, would go on and on about flying on his broom back at home. The way he made it seem, he'd flown all around the country on his broomstick.

"Malfoy said he'd be the first first-year to be on the Quidditch team," said Adele, remembering her conversation with the blonde boy in Diagon Alley. "Something about 'Father getting a hold of the school'."

"Did he really?" Harry asked, growing angrier.

Ron shook his head. "Figures," he muttered. "Malfoy thinks anything is possibly when it comes to his dad. Don't worry, I'm sure both of you could ride a broom better than _him_."

Adele thought that was a bit too farfetched, but she didn't tell Ron that. Everyone from wizarding families were talking about Quidditch and flying. Neville Longbottom had never been on a broom in his life, and while that made Adele feel a tiny bit better, Adele also knew that Neville was the most accident-prone in the entire lot of them.

Hermione was also nervous about flying lessons, though she'd never admit it to anyone else but Adele. Flying wasn't something you could learn out of a book, although that didn't mean she didn't try to anyway. Hermione had probably read through every book that mentioned Quidditch, even if it was only mentioned once.

Harry and Adele hadn't received a single letter since Hagrid's note, but that was the last thing on Adele's mind. That particular morning, however, she was forced to bring it to her attention when Malfoy received a package and opened it gloatingly when he was sure both her and Harry were watching. "It's only a package of sweets, Harry," Adele whispered, rolling her eyes.

Harry only shook his head, and turned his attention back to the food in front of him.

* * *

><p>The morning of flying lessons, Malfoy wasn't the only one receiving something in the mail.<p>

A barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke.

"It's a Remembrall!" he explained. "Gran knows I forget things - this tells you if you…"

Adele tuned him out after that, and spent the rest of breakfast making sure Fred and George weren't anywhere near her. She was growing tired of expecting their revenge, and honestly just wished they'd get it over with so she could stop worrying.

"What's this?" A voice broke through her thoughts, and she looked up at Malfoy who had taken Neville's Remembrall.

"Give it back, Malfoy," Adele groaned.

Harry and Ron were already on their feet with their wands out, probably looking for a reason - any reason - to fight Malfoy. Professor McGonagall approached their table before anything could happen however, and stared down at them suspiciously.

"What's going on?"

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor."

Malfoy dropped the Remembrall back on the table with a scowl. "Just looking," he sneered, and then sloped away with his two goons trailing behind them. McGonagall gave them one last look, and continued on her way to the head table.

"What a git," mumbled Adele, stirring around her porridge.

At three-thirty that afternoon, she made her way down to the Quidditch pitch with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the first year Gryffindors. Even though Harry and Ron were a ways in front of her and Hermione - still, neither of them were quite fancy about the idea of the bookworm- Adele could still hear their conversation. The weather was nice; clear, breezy, cool, and the grass swayed underneath their feet.

The Slytherins were already there when they arrived, and were standing next to ten out of twenty broomsticks laying on the grass. "Fred and George Weasley said that these broomsticks suck," Harry was now whispering in her ear.

Adele groaned; the last thing she wanted to hear about was Fred and George Weasley.

When the teacher for flying lessons arrived, Madam Hooch, Adele thought she reminded her of a hawk with her short spiky grey hair and yellow eyes.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "And say 'UP'!"

"UP!" everyone chorused.

Harry's broom flew straight into his hands, and after giving a small twitch, so did Adele's. Hermione's broom rolled over on the ground, and Neville's didn't even move. "How'd you do that?" Hermione whispered frantically in Adele's ear.

Adele shrugged. "Don't know."

Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms the correct way, and then walked up and down the rows correcting their grips.

Ron and Harry were elated when Malfoy was told he'd been riding a broom the wrong way for years, and Adele broke into hushed giggles.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight down. On my whistle - three - two -" But Neville, in a nervous stupor, had jumped on his broom and taken off before Madam Hooch blew the whistle.

"Come back, boy!" she yelled, but Neville was rising up like a cork shot out of a bottle. Adele watched as Neville's face drained of all visible color, and slowly slipped sideways off of the broom. She saw it happening before it happened, and wished she could've done something. A few seconds later, Neville was laying facedown on the grass and moaning in pain.

Madam Hooch was bending over him, her face as white as his.

"Broken wrist," they heard her mutter. "Come on, boy - it's all right, up you get."

She turned to the rest of the class and instructed them not to move, and more importantly, to leave their brooms where they were. Adele watched Madam Hooch help Neville off the Quidditch Pitch, and no sooner were they out of earshot when Malfoy and his goons burst into laughter.

"Did you see his face?" The other Slytherins joined in.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Parvati snapped.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" asked Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin girl who looked remarkably like a pug. "Never thought you'd like fat crybabies, Parvati."

"Oh, come off it, you pug-faced imbecile," Adele snapped, folding her arms.

Pansy looked outraged and was about to insult Adele back, but didn't get the chance.

"Look!" shouted Malfoy, darting forward, and snatching something out of the glass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him." Adele recognized the Remembrall easily.

"Give it here, Malfoy," Harry said quietly, holding out his palm. Everyone stopped talking to watch.

Malfoy smiled nastily.

"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find - how about - up a tree?"

"Give it here!" Adele yelled, gripping her broom.

Malfoy jumped onto his broom and rose into the sky, causing a group of gasps. He hadn't been lying; he could fly well. "Come and get it!" Malfoy shouted, holding it up.

Harry grabbed his broom, but Adele was already mounting hers. "No!" Hermione yelled, grabbing Adele's robes. "You can't - Madam Hooch said - you'll get us all in trouble!"

Adele pried the girl's fingers from her robes, and flew into the sky. She could see Harry rising next to her, and they flew towards Malfoy. Adele thought, not only was flying kind of easy, but it was amazing as well. Malfoy looked stunned when they reached him, and Adele wished she had a camera with her.

Ron gave an appreciative whoop from down below.

"Give it here," Harry was saying. "Or I'll knock you off your broom."

"Yeah, right." Malfoy sneered, but he looked unsure.

A few seconds later, Malfoy had thrown Neville's Remembrall and flown back to the ground. Harry and Adele zoomed after it, but a loud scoff from down below caught Adele off guard.

"This is for insulting me, you filthy Gryffindor!" Pansy Parkinson was shouting, and Adele barely caught the sight of her hoisting up a large rock and chucking it straight at Adele and Harry. "Adele-" Harry started, just as he caught the Remembrall.

Adele gripped her broom, lifted her feet onto it, and jumped onto the back of Harry's. A few seconds later, she hit the rock straight back at Pansy with her broomstick. Pansy and the other Slytherins surrounding her scampered away from the hurdling rock. Harry flew back down to the ground and toppled into the grass, but Adele was on her feet and marching towards Pansy.

"Are. You. Out. Of. You're. Bloody. MIND?" she screeched. "You could have seriously hurt one of us! Is your pride really large enough that you don't care about the wellbeing of the other students?"

Adele was about to go on, but a loud shriek had stopped her. "HARRY POTTER! ADELE PAXTON!" Adele turned around, and saw Harry stand up stock straight just as Professor McGonagall was approaching the field. Adele walked up to Harry, feeling all the color drain from her face. Pansy sniggered in the background.

Despite the other Gryffindors trying to explain what had happened, Adele and Harry were forced to follow McGonagall back into the castle. Were they going to be expelled? She didn't want to be expelled, she'd only been there for almost two weeks now! She wasn't ready to leave- wasn't ready to leave this world filled with magic behind. They followed McGonagall up the stairs, and stopped when she walked into a classroom.

"Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?"

"Wood?" Adele whispered to Harry, not noticing two sets of eyes focused on her from the classroom across the hall. "What's a Wood?"

"I think you mean 'Who's a Wood', Adele," Harry said, gulping.

Wood turned out to be a fifth-year-boy, who was large and burly, but also very good-looking. An expression full of confusion was on his face when he saw Harry and Adele.

"Follow me, you three," said the Professor, and lead them away.

She did as she was told, but had to do a double-take when she saw Fred and George leaning out of their seats and staring at them. Out slipped her dark red wand, and she pointed it at the door. Gently, it flew shut.

"In here," Professor McGonagall said, gesturing them into an empty classroom.

She slammed the door behind them, and turned around to face the three students.

"Potter, Paxton, this is Oliver Wood. Wood - I've found you a Seeker and a reserve Beater."

Wood's expression changed from puzzlement to delight. "Are you serious, Professor?"

"Absolutely," said Professor McGonagall. "The boy's a natural, and the girl showed some skill as well."

Both their Professor and Wood began questioning them, asking if that was their first time on a broom - yes - and if they knew anything about Quidditch - also yes, due to Ron and the rest of the Gryffindors never shutting up. Wood was now going on about how Harry was perfect build for a Seeker, and then turned to her.

"Are you sure?" he asked McGonagall with a doubtful look. "She's rather small, even for a first year."

"Positive," said McGonagall. "She was flying alongside Potter, probably would've caught the thing too if a rock hadn't came flying at them both. She jumped from her broom onto Potter's, and hit the rock back in the direction it came with her broom. She'd probably make a good reserve Seeker as well."

Harry and Adele were dismissed when McGonagall said she'd try to get Dumbledore to bend the first-year no brooms rule for Harry. "You won't need a broom quite yet," said McGonagall to Adele. "If we need you as a reserve, you'll just use the other person's broom."

Ron looked ecstatic when they told him the news at dinner. "You can't tell anyone, though." Adele gave him a stern look.

She was amazed that instead of being expelled, she'd been offered a spot as a reserve Seeker and Beater on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. That however, didn't make her any less nervous that if word got around, not only would McGonagall change her mind, but some sort of punishment would be in order as well.

Fred and George wandered into the Great Hall, spotted Harry and Adele, and scurried on over. "Well done," George said, clamping both of them on their shoulders.

_Great_, Adele groaned inwardly, _just when I thought word might not get out..._

"Wood told us the news," said Fred. "Never thought a little thing like you would make a good Beater, honestly."

Adele stared up at him with narrowed eyes. "Why not?" she asked innocently. "A little thing like you did."

Ron snorted and Harry grinned, but George was forced to look offended since he was identical to Fred. The twins began to excuse themselves, something about a secret passageway, but then they stopped. "We'll be taking Adele with us," said George.

Fred grabbed her around her waist, and lifted her from the table. Adele struggled. "I haven't even eaten dinner yet! Let me go!"

Harry and Ron watched them; torn between helping or staying out of the way.

"Really, Harry?" Adele asked, as Fred threw her over his shoulder. "You're just going to let them take me- some best friend you are!"

People were staring now, as Fred carried her and followed George out of the hall. After a while, Adele stopped struggling, so Fred let her back onto her feet. She huffed and puffed, but followed them anyway because they obviously weren't going to let her leave. When they stopped, they lead her into a secret passage behind a statue. At the end of the tunnel, they came to a stop in a small room that overlooked the grounds.

Lee was waiting for them; he grinned when he saw Adele. "Bet you're surprised that there's secret passageways here," he said.

"I've already found one," she said, her eyes landing on the box of water balloons. "How do you know what those even are? They're muggle water things?"

"Our dad brought them home," said Fred.

"He works at the Ministry in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts," finished George.

"And why do you have them here?" Adele looked suspicious.

She watched as all three of them kneeled around a minuscule hole in the floor, and hesitantly she followed their example. When she looked into the hole, she was surprised to see several students of different years and different houses scurrying around the grounds. She shouldn't have been surprised; it was something she could see Fred, George, and Lee doing.

"And let me guess," she drawled. "You're going to drop the water balloons through the hole and soak unsuspecting students?"

"Preferably Slytherins," said Fred.

"But yes, you are correct." George pat her shoulder.

Lee was leaning forward and waiting for someone who wasn't a Gryffindor to walk by, and decided to make small talk in the meantime. Adele didn't entirely mind, but she could think of other things she'd much rather be doing. Like finishing her Transfiguration homework.

Oh Merlin, she was turning into Hermione!

Suddenly, she felt like there was no place she'd rather be.

"So, Adele," Lee was saying. "We heard about your outburst in Potions. Cheers to you."

Adele sighed- that's right, she forgot her and her three friends had detention tomorrow night. George let drop one of the water balloons when a black-haired Slytherin girl came walking underneath the hole with a scowl on her face. They watched as the girl screamed in outrage, and stared around at the sky and mountains above her.

"Score!"

"Honestly, you guys…"

"Oh, don't act like you didn't enjoy it."

"All right, maybe a bit…"

"Look! There's that Parkinson girl! She's a Slytherin, isn't she?"

Adele pushed away the others so she could get a better look, and grabbed the purple water balloon from Lee's hand. "She's mine," said Adele, waiting for the right moment…

Almost there…

Perfect! She let the water balloon drop until it splattered all over Pansy's head, who shrieked louder than the other Slytherin girl and started cursing the people walking by her. As if they had any part of it. Adele scoffed.

"Harboring some hard feelings, there?" asked Lee, raising an eyebrow.

"She's the one who threw the rock at Harry and me."

"Then she's the one who got you on the Quidditch team as a reserve Beater and Seeker," mentioned Fred.

"True." She had to give him that.

After an hour of getting unsuspecting victims soaked with water, the four of them made their leave from the passageway. "Well, that was a blast!" George glanced eagerly at the closing door as they left the passage.

Adele hesitated. "Speaking of," she finally said. "When are you two gonna, you know…?"

"Get you back?" asked Fred, waving goodbye to Lee who was running off to find Angelina- probably to annoy her. He was good at that.

"When you're least expecting it," said George, grinning ear-to-ear.

Adele groaned.

When they reached the common room, Fred and George went straight to their dormitory to discuss a new prank idea. Adele, after declining their offer to join them, walked over and plopped down next to Harry and Ron. They stopped whispering when she approached, which caused her to get suspicious.

"So," she said skeptically. "What's up, then?"

After a moment of thinking something through, Harry pulled her closer. "You can't tell anyone, all right?" he whispered, and Ron nodded vigorously.

"You know I won't, Harry," she told him, slightly offended that he thought she would. Were they not best friends the past eleven years?

"I only thought you might because, well- well, anyway, Malfoy challenged me to a duel tonight at eleven," he explained. "Ron will be my second, are you going to come?"

"Second?" she asked, confused. "And of course I'm coming, try and stop me."

"Well, mate…" Ron started, but Harry narrowed his eyes at him in response.

"Anyway," Ron shifted uneasily. "Second is where I take Harry's place if he gets injured badly, or you know, dies."

Adele stared at them for a moment, unable to think of anything to say. Harry dying? Ron taking his place? She wasn't sure if she should be frightenend, or laugh at the silliness of it all.

"It'll be fine though," Harry insisted. "I'll be fine."

Adele gulped. "I sure hope so…not that we should worry that much, I mean, it's _Malfoy_."

"That's exactly what I thought," said Ron. "Anyways…"

And so they discussed everything from the upcoming duel at eleven, to the detention they all had tomorrow night with Hermione, to the Halloween celebration and the short break that would be coming up quite quickly. Eventually, the minutes turned into hours, and the hours went by too quickly.

By the time it was ten to eleven, Harry was glancing at the clock every five seconds.

"Are you actually nervous, Harry?" asked Adele, standing to her feet. "I'll go get into my pajamas then, you two as well? Be right back."

All three of them raced up to their dormitories. When she reached her dorm, she mentally slapped herself. Hermione was sitting on her bed, reading a book, and looked up when Adele arrived. "I suppose you're to be joining them?" she asked, setting aside her book.

Adele glanced at the girl, nodded quickly, and shoved on a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of flannel pajama pants. When she left the dormitory, it didn't go unnoticed that Hermione was following her. "Go back to bed!" Adele hissed, as they descended the staircase.

When they reached the common room, Ron was the first person to spot Hermione.

"You!" he said furiously. "Go back to bed!"

"No use," Adele sighed. "Already tried."

"I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped. "Percy - he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this."

Harry looked on the verge of anger, and Adele ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "Just go back to bed, 'Mione," she said tiredly. "No one is forcing you to be here."

"C'mon," Harry said sighing, and leading her and Ron out of the portrait hole.

Hermione wasn't so easily to give up though. No, instead she followed them out of the portrait hole. After arguing for a few more minutes in hushed whispers, Hermione finally warned them one last time, and turned to go back inside. Only, the Fat Lady had gone on one of her nighttime visits and the portrait hole had already long been closed.

"Now what am I going to do?" Hermione asked hurriedly.

"Not our problem," Ron shrugged, following after Adele and Harry. Hermione easily caught up. "I'm coming with you," she said.

That fired Ron into a hushed argument with Hermione yet again, that was soon to be interrupted by another noise. "Is it Filch's cat?" Adele asked, too nervous to try and remember the name. She could feel her chest tightening with the fear of getting caught. Thoughts like; expulsion, suspension, whipping, more punishments with Snape, or something even worse filled her mind.

"Mrs. Norris?" Harry whispered, peering around the corner. "Wait- Neville?"

"Neville? Did you say Neville?" Adele peered around the corner too.

And so they acquired yet another trooper to their mission. Neville exclaimed, "Don't leave me!" and began following the original three as well.

"If we get caught," Hermione was huffing, going on about another threat Adele couldn't see her going through with.

When they reached the Trophy Room, where the duel was suppose to take place, Malfoy and his goons had yet to arrive. The minutes crept by.

"He's late, maybe he chickened out," Ron whispered.

"Or maybe he never planned to come in the first place?" Adele shrugged; it was a possibility.

Just then, a voice sounded outside the room, but it was definitely not Malfoy. "Sniff around, my pretty," Filch's voice cackled.

All eyes widenend, but no one dared to speak a word.

_All this_, Adele cried in her head, _only to get caught in the end. _

The five of them slowly crept out of the Trophy Room, and around the corner. Ron, however, wasn't paying attention to where he was going and crashed into a suit of armor. They stood horrorstruck for a few moments, before Harry yelled, "RUN!"

"Bloody hell, Ron!" Adele whisper-yelled, taking off. She wasn't sure how close Filch was. She wasn't sure she wanted to know either.

They sprinted down the gallery, and with Harry in the lead, down corridor after corridor. They came to a halt outside their Charms classroom, which was far, far away from the Trophy Room.

"I think we've lost him," Harry panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping his forehead. Neville was on his knees, wheezing and sputtering.

"I - told - you," Hermione gasped, clutching her knees and trying to catch her breath, "I -told - you."

"We've got to get back," Adele huffed, holding her chest.

As all five of them caught their breath and started towards the Gryffindor common room yet again, another obstacle took course. It was Peeves. He gave a squeal of delight.

Adele moaned in exhaustion. "Are you _bloody serious_?"

"Shut up - Peeves, please - you'll get us caught," Harry whispered frantically.

Peeves looked elated. "Wandering around at midnight, ickle firsties. Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."

"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves."

"Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves in a saintly voice, puffing out his transparent and round chest.

"It's for your own good," the ghost continued, smiling wickedly.

"Get out of the way," Ron snapped, his ears growing red.

"Big. Mistake," Adele gasped, just as Peeves sucked in a huge breath of air.

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves bellowed. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"

Ducking under Peeves, they ran for their lives, right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door- it was locked.

"This is it!" Ron was going on, his hands forever lost in his red and messy hair.

Adele rolled her eyes as Hermione pushed through, and grabbed Adele's dark cherry red wand that was sticking out of her pants' elastic waistband. As quietly as she could, Hermione whispered, "Alohomora!" The lock clicked open, and soon followed the door.

All five of them pushed into the room, slammed the door shut behind them, and pressed their ears against it, listening and waiting.

"Which way did they go, Peeves?"

"Say 'please'."

"Don't mess with me, Peeves, now where did they go?"

"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in his highly annoying singsong voice.

Adele forced herself not to giggle.

"All right, please," Filch gave in.

"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please!" And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away, and Filch cursing angrily.

They sat there catching their breath again, for the second time that night, when Neville began pulling on Adele's pajama shirt. "What is it, Neville?" She turned around, only to see what he was so frightened about. "Uh, Harry…"

"What?" Harry turned around also, soon followed by Ron and Hermione.

They weren't in a room, like they thought they were; they were in the forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden.

They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the entire space. Not just any normal dog, either. A dog with three heads. Three. Heads.

Adele was the first one to snap back into reality when the dog…s began baring their teeth at them, and pulled open the door. Between being eaten alive by a three-headed dog and Filch, she'd choose Filch any day.

Luckily, Filch was nowhere to be seen when they all stumbled out of the room. Adele slammed the door shut behind them, and all five of them took off running even faster than before back to the common room. They didn't stop running until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Where on earth have you all been?" she asked, looking at their bedraggled appearances and sweaty, flushed faces.

"Never mind, pig snout- pig snout," Harry panted the password, and reluctantly the Fat Lady let them back in.

They scrambled in and fell into armchairs surrounding the fireplace. It was a while before anyone said anything. Neville looked like he'd never speak again.

Finally, Adele looked up at them all and broke the silence. "Well that," she huffed. "Was bloody terrifying."

"What do you think they're doing, keeping that thing locked up in the school?" asked Ron, still shaking. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

Now that Hermione had caught her breath, her bad temper was back. "You don't use your eyes, do you?" she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"The floor?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"Sorry," mumbled Adele. "I was too busy staring at its _three bloody heads_, Hermione."

"No, not the floor," Hermione ignored Adele. "A trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something."

After huffing out more complaints, Hermione made her way back up to the girl's dormitory stairs. Ron looked absolutely livid. Harry, on the other hand, shared a look with Adele; a thought coming to both of them.

Hagrid had said that Gringotts was the safest place in the world for something you wanted to hide, except perhaps Hogwarts.

It looked as though Adele and Harry finally knew where the grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen was.

The only question left was- what was _in_ it?


	10. Halloween and Races

A/N: Here is chapter nine! Thanks for the review, and I hope you enjoy it!

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><p><strong>Chapter Nine<strong>

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><p>Malfoy looked stunned to see Harry and Ron still in school the following morning, looking tired but still cheerful. They weren't the only ones who were tired though; Adele felt her eyes drooping every five seconds, and even Hermione looked like she could use another hour or two of sleep.<p>

Adele wouldn't know though, because Hermione was refusing to talk to her, Harry, and Ron. Harry was explaining to Ron about the package Hagrid got from Gringotts, while Adele was tiredly picking at her toast. "It's either really valuable or really dangerous," said Ron.

"Or it could be both," Adele muttered, pushing away her plate of food.

Harry looked at her in concern. "You all right, Ad?"

Adele nodded. "Never been better."

That morning when mail came, a long thin package being carried by several owls caught everyone's attention. Even more so when the owls dropped the package in front of Harry. They stared at it blankly. A letter was attached to the package; Adele picked it off and handed it to Harry. It instructed him not to open it at the table.

"Bet I know what that is," mumbled Adele, eyeing the package knowingly.

After agreeing to meet Harry and Ron in the common room in an hour, she excused herself from the table and made her way onto the grounds. The sun was shining that particular morning, and there couldn't be a more perfect day for strolling around aimlessly. Although, after strolling for a few minutes, it became less aimlessly and more leading towards the Quidditch pitch.

She wanted to fly; more than anything. The urge was so sudden and unexpected, Adele almost started running. When she reached the pitch, she grabbed one of the school brooms, and took off rising into the air.

The wind tangled in her long locks, and blew against her pale face; it felt nice. She found herself dipping, twirling, flipping, and swirling. She was so caught in the moment that she didn't register anyone approaching, that was, until she heard a loud whoop.

"Impressive flying there," Lee's voice shouted. "Glad to see they weren't kidding when they said you had skills."

Adele looked down to the ground, and noticed Lee, Fred, George, Angelina, and Katie Bell all approaching the pitch with their broomsticks at hand with the exception of Lee and a box. "Hope you don't mind," Angelina held up her broomstick, "We wanted to fly a little. Well, most of us, Lee just wanted to tag along." She stared at him warily.

Adele smiled. "Not at all."

After the five joined her in the air, they started a game of Quidditch with the balls that were in the box. Katie, Adele, and Fred were on a team, while Angelina, Lee, and George were on the other. The games went on for a while, but mostly Adele's team won due to Adele always catching the snitch before Angelina did.

"I've got to leave soon," Adele yelled, swinging her broom around after catching the snitch once again.

"How do you keep doing that!" Lee looked flabbergasted.

She shrugged.

"One more game, then?" asked George, flying over with Fred trailing behind.

Adele was about to agree, but Fred interrupted her. "I've got a better idea," he said. "I say we have a race."

"A race?" Adele looked skeptical.

"I like your way of thinking, Fred," George said.

"Us against you," Fred continued.

"We'll referee," Lee volunteered, lowering to the ground with Angelina and Katie.

"If one of us wins-" George began.

"We'll prank you-"

"Ten times worse-"

"Than we were planning to do," Fred grinned.

"And if I win?"

The twins shrugged simultaneously. "Then we won't get you back at all," they chorused.

She contemplated this in her mind; the outcome could be in her favor, but she was growing iffy. Why would they make the bet if they knew they'd lose? After a moment or two, Adele nodded her consent. "You're on."

"Great!"

"Wicked!"

She swung her broom around nervously, and refused to meet either of their eyes.

"Sonorus," Lee announced, pointing his wand at his throat. "All right, then."

Lee's voice was loud enough for the people wandering around the grounds to hear, and a few climbed into the bleachers to watch what was going down. A few turned into more than a few, and pretty soon there was a scatter of Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws.

"Line up at the goal post to your right," Lee's voice boomed. "You will be racing to the goal post to the far left on my command. Ready? On my mark- Ready. Set. GO!"

Adele took off, leaning forward on her broom to make it speed up. Fred and George were right behind her, barely by an inch, but still behind her nonetheless. Adele willed the lousy school broom to go even faster, and started to lose concentration when the twins sped ahead of her.

_No, stop_, she reasoned with herself, _you can do it; just concentrate. _

The crowd below them was cheering for either the twins or her, but mostly she just heard her name being yelled enthusiastically. "Come on, Adele!" Angelina was yelling.

"Don't let them beat you!" That was Katie.

Adele picked up her pace just as they were approaching the goal post, and flew ahead of the twins by a head. When she flew threw the goal post, cheering could be heard from below. Lee whooped again. "And we have our winner! Adele Paxton- who is now free of Fred and George's revengeful wrath!"

The twins grinned at her as they flew to the ground. After shaking hands with them, bringing her broomstick back to the shed, and waving to the dispersing crowd of students, Adele made her way back towards the castle to find Harry and Ron. She was over twenty minutes late to meet back up with them. Not that it mattered much, Harry probably just wanted to discuss Hagrid's package, how much of a git Snape was, or how much he hated Malfoy.

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><p>On Halloween morning, the smell of baking pumpkin wafted into Adele's Charms classroom. Professor Flitwick was teaching them the levitating incantation, and while most people didn't look very enthusiastic, Hermione looked very sure of herself. Adele hadn't spoken to the girl since their nighttime adventure, and she was totally find with keeping it that way. Hermione was at fault for ignoring Adele anyway.<p>

Professor Flitwick put everyone into pairs to practice, and much to Ron's anger and everyone else's amusement, he was placed with Hermione. Adele and Harry were placed together, thankfully. A feather was given to each of them.

"Remember the flick of your wrist," Flitwick was saying.

Adele wasn't sure she knew how to do the incantation, but she was pretty confident at the same time. Harry tried first; swish and flick. Nothing happened. Adele tried next. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Both her and Harry watched as the feather floated an inch into the air, and then slowly deflated back down. "How did you do that?" gasped Harry, glaring at the feather as he tried it once more. At the next table, Ron wasn't having much luck either.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.

"You're saying it wrong," Adele heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."

"You do it then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.

Hermione did just that. Rolling up the sleeves of her robes, she flicked her wand and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Their feather rose into the air almost five feet off of their desk, and seemed to mock Ron, who's ears were turning a bright red. They grew redder when Professor Flitwick appraised Hermione.

"You did it too," Harry grumbled. "He didn't even notice."

"Come off it, Harry," whispered Adele.

Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class, but then again it was no surprise considering he spent the past hour with Hermione breathing down his neck.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to them as they pushed their way down the corridor, "She's a nightmare, honestly."

"Don't you think that's going just a bit too far?" Adele asked, just as someone bumped into Harry causing him to topple into her.

The person hurried off, but it didn't take a genius to recognize the bushy brown hair. Adele watched her run off, and couldn't help but notice that she was crying. "Definitely too far," she muttered, running a hand through her wavy blonde locks.

"I think she heard you," commented Harry uncomfortably.

"No, really?" Adele's tone dripped with sarcasm. "What gave you that bloody idea?"

"So?" Ron ignored Adele, but still looked a bit put off nonetheless. "She must've noticed she has no friends."

Adele felt her temper flare up, and hurried off ahead of the two boys. She wasn't a fan of Hermione at the moment, but Ron was being a git right then. Hermione didn't show up for the next class, and wasn't seen all afternoon. On Adele's way to the Great Hall, where she planned on sitting with Fred and George during the Halloween feast, she overheard Lavender telling Parvati that Hermione was crying in the girl's bathroom and wanted to be left alone.

She stopped walking; debating whether or not she should go see if the girl was all right.

"I wouldn't," a voice spoke from behind her, causing her to jump in surprise.

Adele turned around to see Fred. "Wouldn't what?" she questioned, looking around for his twin - it was odd to see them apart.

"George is already in there," said Fred, noticing her wandering eyes. "And I mean Hermione, that is why you stopped, right?"

She nodded slightly, and decided to change the subject as they began walking through the double doors. "It's strange to see you and George apart."

"I was held back in Potions for inappropriate behavior," Fred looked almost…proud.

They took a seat next to George and Lee, and across from Angelina, Katie, and Alicia Spinnet. No one asked her why she wasn't sitting with Harry and Ron, even though both boys kept sending her glances from halfway down the table. Halloween decorations littered the hall, giving off a vibrant Halloween spirit.

Thousands of live bats fluttered from the walls and ceilings, while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds. Adele thought they reminded her of Snape, and shared this theory with her friends.

"Now that you mention it," Lee began, and then paused to think.

"Snape is their leader," said Fred.

"He's probably ecstatic right now," said George.

The girls all laughed and shook their heads. The feast suddenly appeared on the golden platters, as it had at the start-of-term banquet. Adele was piling chicken and dumplings onto her plate when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and a look of terror on his gasping face.

Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll - in the dungeons - thought you ought to know." He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.

Cue the outrageous uproar of frightened students. It took several exploding purple fireworks from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence. "Prefects," he rumbled. "Lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!" Percy was in his element.

"Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a Prefect!"

"How could a troll get in?" Adele heard Harry ask Ron as they were whisked off together.

"Don't ask me, they're suppose to be really stupid," said Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."

"Should we be frightened?" Adele asked Ron, forgetting that she was suppose to be angry with him and Harry.

He seemed to forget too. "I wouldn't be," he said. "Aren't very dangerous, like I said, they're stupid."

As they pushed their way through a group of confused Hufflepuffs, Harry suddenly grabbed their arms.

"I've just thought - Hermione!"

Ron looked confused. "What about her?"

Adele, on the other hand, looked horror struck. "She doesn't know about the troll!"

Ron bit his lip. "Oh, all right! Let's go find her," he snapped. "But Percy better not see us."

Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor, and hurried off towards the girl's bathroom. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them. "Percy!" whispered Ron frantically. Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.

"What's he doing?" whispered Harry. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"

"Beats me," Adele muttered, shaking her head.

Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps.

"He's heading for the third floor," Harry said, but Ron held up his hand.

"Can you smell something?"

Now that he mentioned it, Adele found herself breathing in a terrible smell; a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean. And then they heard it - a low grunting, and the shuffling footsteps of gigantic feet. All three of them turned around slowly, only to wish they hadn't. A huge and scary looking troll was approaching them, with a huge wooden club dragging against the floor due to its long arms.

"Guys?" Adele squeaked, gripping their robes.

The troll stopped approaching them, however, when it glanced at a passing room. After slowly contemplating going in with its tiny brain, it sauntered into the room.

"The keys in the lock," Harry muttered. "We could lock it in."

"Good idea," Ron said nervously.

Adele just stared at the door opening in horror; what a hideous creature… She watched as the boys edged towards the door, slowly shut it, and then locked it. They backed away.

"Yes!" Their victory, however, was short lived when a high, petrified scream erupted from the room they had just locked the troll in. Adele was the first to come to the realization.

"Oh no," she whispered, all color draining from her face.

Harry and Ron seemed to realize as well. "It's the girls bathroom!" Harry gasped.

"Hermione!" they all shouted together, struggling to pull the door back open.

Finally after fumbling with the locks, Harry managed to pull the door open. The three of them stared at the scene before them; startled. Hermione was backed up against the wall, her cheeks red and damp from crying. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.

"Confuse it!" Harry yelled desperately to Ron and Adele, and, seizing a tap, he threw it as hard as he could against the wall.

Adele did the only thing she could think to do; she jumped on the troll's foot and wrapped her legs around it. Thankfully, the troll seemed to notice, and glanced down at her with a loud groaning noise. She gripped on tighter as Harry ushered Hermione away from the sinks, and the troll started shaking its foot in anger and swinging at Adele.

Not being able to hold on any longer, she let go and flew against the wall with a loud thud. The troll began advancing on her now, but stopped when Ron caught its attention.

"Oy, pea-brain!" he yelled from the other side of the chamber, and threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe as it struck, but it did hear the yell, and slowly turned to Ron. Harry then helped Adele up, and yelled for her to hurry. She was having trouble seeing things straight, but tried to hold it together.

The shouting and echoes seemed to drive the troll berserk. It let out a loud groan, and started towards Ron once more. Harry then did something that was both brave and stupid: he took a great jump and managed to fasten his arms around the back of the troll's neck. The troll couldn't feel Harry hanging on him, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long piece of wood up its nose, and Harry's wand had been in his hand when he jumped - it had gone straight up the troll's nostrils.

Hermione had shrunk to the floor in fright, and Adele soon followed due to a pounding headache. Ron pulled out his own wand - not knowing what he was going to do, he found himself crying out the first spell that came to mind: "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The club suddenly flew right out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over - and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.

Harry got to his feet. He was shaking and out of breath. Ron was still standing there, with his wand raised, staring at what he'd done.

It was Hermione who spoke first. "Is it - dead?"

"I don't think so," said Harry. "I think it's just been knocked out."

He pulled his wand out from the troll's nose, and made a face when a gooey green substance dripped off of it.

"That's bloody disgusting," Adele muttered, getting to her feet with a broken sink's help.

"Ugh, troll boogers." He wiped it off on the troll's trousers.

A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the four of them look up. They hadn't realized the racket they'd been making, but then again, they were fighting a troll. Who would realize that in a life or death situation, really? A moment later, Professor McGonagall came bursting into the room, followed closely by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a girlish whimper, and leaned against the wall looking faint.

Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Ron, Harry, and Adele. Adele had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Adele glanced at Harry and then Ron, who still had his wand held in the air. "You're lucky you weren't killed! Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

They were silent for a moment, and Adele felt the fear of being expelled replace her headache. Then a small voice came out of the shadows.

"Please, Professor McGonagall - they were looking for me."

"Miss Granger!"

Hermione managed to get to her feet at last. "I went looking for the troll because I - I thought I could deal with it on my own - you know, because I've read all about them." Ron dropped his wand. Hermione Granger was downright lying to a teacher. "If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead by now. Adele climbed onto its foot and got thrown against the wall, Harry stuck his wand up its nose, and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."

Harry and Ron were trying to look as if this story wasn't new to them, while Adele was staring wide-eyed at Hermione. The Professors seemed to wipe it off as shock.

"Well - in that case…" said Professor McGonagall, staring at the four of them. "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?" Hermione hung her head. Harry looked speechless, and Adele didn't quite know what to do or say either. Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get them out of trouble.

It was as if Snape was handing out sweets, or shampooing his hair right then and there.

"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feasts in their houses." Hermione left.

Professor McGonagall then turned to Harry, Ron, and Adele.

"Well, I still say you're lucky, not many first years could have taken on a full grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

They didn't argue with that, and didn't speak until they were two floors up and away from the smell of the troll. Adele was holding her head with one hand; the headache was back now that she knew she wasn't going to be expelled. Harry glanced at her. "You should get that checked out," he said, lifting his hand to her head as well.

"I'm fine." Adele let her hand drop back to her side.

Ron was going on about getting more points, but Adele was hardly paying attention. She had to fight the urges to sneak off into that secret passageway and stare at the moon. They finally reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Pig snout," they chorused and entered.

The common room was packed and noisy, and Adele wandered away from Harry and Ron when she saw Fred beckoning her over. When she arrived, it looked like everyone let out a visible breath. "Ron was with you, right?" asked George. Adele nodded.

"Thank Merlin," he muttered.

"You, Ron, Harry, and Hermione were all missing when we got back to the common room," Angelina explained. "Percy just about had a cow."

Adele shook with silent laughter.

Fred peered at her. "Where were you four?"

"We were fighting the troll," she said in all seriousness.

Everyone listening started laughing, and wouldn't know until the following morning that Adele was being one hundred percent serious. When Adele made her way back up to the girl's dorms, Hermione pulled her aside to mutter, almost inaudibly, "Thanks."

From that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.


	11. Werewolves and Quidditch

A/N: Sorry it has taken me so long to update! I keep getting all these good ideas for FredXAdele, but I can't write any romantic scenes for a while, so it's like...killing me, man. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it, and reviews would be awesome! :D

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><p><strong>Chapter Ten<strong>

* * *

><p>As they entered November, the faint wind of fall turned harsher, and the castle grew colder. Every morning the grounds were covered in frost, and Hagrid could be seen defrosting the school brooms in the Quidditch field.<p>

The Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, Harry would be playing in his first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. If Gryffindor won, they'd move into second place in the house championship. Adele wouldn't be playing unless one of the twins or Harry were unable to play for some reason, but she still attended every practice. She had to.

"What time is it?" asked Fred, who was stretching and yawning.

Wood had worked them to the bone at the latest practice, and they ended up playing all the through the afternoon and evening. The sun was beginning to set, and they were finally on their way back to Gryffindor tower. Harry pulled back his cloak to glance at his wristwatch and said, "Almost seven."

"Why?" asked Angelina Johnson to Fred, elbowing him in a flirtatious manner. "Got somewhere to be?"

Fred grinned. "George and I have some plans."

"And by plans," mumbled Adele. "He means pranks."

The twins started discussing a 'very well thought out' and 'genius' prank that would be taking place later that night in the dining hall at dinner, but not wanting to be a part of any prank that particular evening, Adele pulled Harry along to the castle at a faster rate than the others. When they arrived in the common room, both went to their respective dorms to change into their pajamas and agreed to meet after with Ron and Hermione.

Can you guess what they were discussing?

_Every second of every day_, Adele thought bitterly, _it gets old quickly. _

Perhaps it wouldn't get so old if they'd figure out anything new, but no. There were no clues or whispers about what was in Hagrid's package, and Adele honestly didn't think there would be unless they were direct about it to Hagrid.

Even then, it was unlikely they'd receive any information. Slipping on a pair of pajama shorts and a long-sleeved maroon shirt, she wandered back into the common room. Hermione, Ron, and Harry were all sitting in front of a roaring fire, with their heads inclined so no one could hear the obvious whispers they were exchanging. Adele took a seat next to Hermione.

"…anything else out," Hermione was saying.

Harry sighed in aggravation, pulling at his hair with his small fingers. "That's why I'm saying we need to find more out!"

Adele wasn't sure why, but listening to them rant about the package was really twisting her stomach in irritated knots. "I'm going to go for a stroll," she finally mumbled, standing up from the couch.

Hermione glanced at her with slight worry, while Harry looked curious and Ron looked clueless. As always. Ignoring their various expressions, Adele made her way out of the common room and without anywhere else to go, she made her way to the Great Hall. Her skin bubbled and her right eye twitched, but she hardly noticed. Her thoughts were swirling with contempt.

"Why?" she was mumbling underneath her breath.

"Why what?" a voice snarled from behind her. Adele turned around, only to face a scoffing Pansy Parkinson. Pansy turned her scoff into a snarl before saying, "Talking to yourself, Paxton? Not sure what good that'll do you."

Of all things she had to run into...

"Back off," warned Adele, a dark look on her face.

"Oh, that's right," continued Pansy. "It's not like you have any friends to talk to," she paused a moment, tapping her chin. "Except…maybe Potter, but what good is he anyway? Not even his parents wanted him…"

Sliding out her cherry red wand, Adele pointed it indignantly at Pansy. "Keep your mouth shut about Harry," she growled.

"Oh, that's right!" Pansy didn't seem to get the picture that Adele wasn't in the mood. "I forgot your parents didn't want you either."

Fuming in anger, Adele took a few steps closer to the pug-like girl and pointed her wand at Pansy's throat. Pansy gulped. "_I said_," Adele hissed. "_Shut up!" _

The last thing she saw before everything went dark was Pansy flying at the opposing wall, and then Adele herself falling to the ground.

* * *

><p>"I thought you said she wouldn't start showing symptoms until her third year," Snape's annoyance-filled voice woke Adele from her slumber.<p>

One eye slowly opened and she took in her surroundings; it was dark, and she was in a bed. The bed was most certainly not her own, she discovered, when she saw the sheets were a pasty white instead of a dark maroon and gold.

_Where am I, _she asked herself in confusion, _and why am I here? _

She sat up slowly and looked around- white beds lined each aisle, and a large window at the end of the room proved it to be late night or early morning. Adele was in the hospital wing she realized, but why?

And then everything came back to her; the strange irritation at everything, the argument with Pansy, and then blacking out after seeing Pansy being thrown against the wall when Adele most certainly did not cast a spell. They must have brought her to the hospital wing when they found her unconscious…was Pansy all right?

"Look," another voice, definitely not Snape's, was speaking now. Peering slowly around the corner of her bed, she realized that the voices were coming from right outside the hospital wing. The same voice that spoke last continued, "All I know is he tried to save me when I was attacked, but he was bitten too. When he married and had the child, she inherited it. I don't know when exactly she'll have her first transformation," he paused here. "I assume it will be her second or third year, and until then she will just have the defining characteristics."

"You're her Godfather," this voice Adele recognized as Professor McGonagall. Her curiosity stemmed, and she wondered who and what they were talking about. McGonagall's voice was filled with annoyance when she asked, "Don't you care what happens to the girl?"

"Of course I care!" the unrecognizable voice boomed, earning pleas of quiet from others. "Sorry," his tone was lower. "But there isn't much I can do for her right now. If she finds out I'm who I am, she'll want to live with me. It'll be easier if we wait until she is of age."

"And of course we respect your decision," that voice was definitely Dumbledore. "And but of course, it is the correct one indeed. I'm sure what my colleagues are most worried about is whether or not she is a danger to other students, and if she is, should Severus begin making the Wolfsbane potion for her consumption?"

"It definitely couldn't hurt her any," replied the stranger. "But how will you get her to take it if she doesn't know why she's taking it?"

"Slip it in her drink, tell her it's something else, there's many possibilities."

Adele was really starting to wonder who they were talking about and what they were discussing, though she had the faintest idea…No, it couldn't be.

"Is she awake yet?" asked the voice after a moment.

There went the 'no way' scenario. Falling back onto the bed and closing her eyes, Adele fought the urge to twitch or blink away her obvious act of sleeping. Footsteps entered the room, and she could feel the presence around her bed. It was only a few moments of silence before she heard someone whisper words, and found herself falling into an actual sleep.

The rest of the night was spent dreaming of a glowing moon; the entire time wondering whether or not she was werewolf and who the unfamiliar voice was.

* * *

><p>Saturday came in the flash of an eye, and Adele was so busy training and taming her random and irritating mood swings that she hardly had any time to consider what she'd overheard the other night. In fact, she was just fine with pretending that the entire conversation was just something she dreamt.<p>

When she woke up the second time, she was told she did accidental magic. Adele didn't argue, and no one mentioned anything about Lycanthropy or her Godfather.

Harry was particularly nervous that morning, but he wouldn't admit it when she, Ron, or Hermione asked him if he was going to be all right. "You'll do fine," Adele was telling him again, taking a bite out of a pastry.

Harry gulped. "I know…"

Adele didn't tell her friends what happened either, although Pansy had started some pretty awful rumors. Something about Adele marching over to her in the corridor, and hexing her because she was standing too close to Adele's 'famous self'. What a load of rubbish.

When the four were making their way towards the Quidditch pitch, the topic of the package came up again. Feeling in a better mood than before, she gladly gave her input on the situation.

"I'm sure it's something valuable," she was saying. "Or dangerous…since it's top secret and all. Maybe it's a lot of money?"

"But why would there be a three headed dog guarding it then?" asked Hermione in a whisper.

"Yeah, that thing is bloody scary for just a package of galleons," Ron said, shuddering.

Harry was having a hard time paying attention do to the very soon coming game, but tried to stay on topic nonetheless. "Could it be a diamond?" he asked, peering around at the crowd also making their way to the Quidditch pitch.

Ron wrinkled his nose. "What's a die-a-mind? Sounds like something dangerous."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "A _diamond_, Ronald, and they're a muggle object worth a lot of money. Sometimes worn on clothing or jewelry."

Ron's nose wrinkled even more.

When they reached the pitch, Adele, Ron, and Hermione all bid Harry a farewell and wished him luck, and then headed to the stands. Pulling her Gryffindor scarf tighter around her neck, Adele shivered against the harsh breeze. When they took their seats, the trio watched as the other players made their way onto the field.

Fred and George peered at the Gryffindors in the stands, surveying the crowd until their eyes landed on Adele. They then proceeded to wave energetically, and whistled loudly in appreciation. Adele grew redder; sinking lower in her seat when heads turned her way.

The twins grinned at each other, hopped on their brooms, and joined the rest of their chuckling teammates. The game started with Gryffindor in the lead.

Hermione peered over the edge of the railing, using her binoculars to watch Harry. "He's not doing anything but hovering," she said, worry laced in her tone. "Oh, he must be so nervous."

"Give me those," Adele charged, grabbing the binoculars and lifting them to her eyes. "Oh, Harry…"

Hermione was right; Harry was doing nothing but watching the others nervously. Ron grabbed the binoculars next, and slapped a hand to his forehead when he saw what was happening. Or, in Harry's case, what _wasn't_ happening.

"LOOK FOR THE SNITCH!" Adele screamed, cupping her hands around her mouth to project her voice.

"And she's really belting along up there," Lee Jordan said, who was doing the commentary for the match, speaking about Angelina Johnson. "A neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only one reserve - back to Johnson and - no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes - Flint flying like an eagle…"

After Angelina scored for Gryffindor and Adele cheered along with everyone else, she focused back on Harry. He seemed to be moving around a bit more, keeping an eye out for any sign of the Snitch.

"Budge up there, move along," a voice was saying from behind.

The trio turned around and grinned, all exclaiming, "Hagrid!"

"Bin watchin' from me hut," said Hagrid, patting his own pair of binoculars from around his neck. "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"

"Nope," said Ron. "Harry hasn't had to do much yet."

"At least he's paying attention now," Hermione put in. "He was too nervous before to do much of anything."

"Kept outta trouble," said Hagrid. "That's something."

The twins were doing rather well too, Adele noted, peering at them through the binoculars. Fred hit away a Bludger that was heading for Angelina.

Harry seemed to catch sight of something, but Adele didn't have time to see if it was the Snitch or just a dud because Ron grabbed her binoculars again. After a few moments, yells of anger erupted from the Gryffindors. Adele peered over the railing along with Hermione; squinting to see what happened; too caught up in the commotion to hear Lee's yells of anger.

All they saw was a blur of silver and green flying away from what looked like Harry.

"Almost knocked him off his bloody broom!" roared Ron angrily. "What a git!"

"FOUL!" the Gryffindors were yelling.

Adele grabbed back the binoculars, and watched as Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goal posts for Gryffindor. Hermione then asked Adele for the binoculars, and she handed them over.

And so the game went on, without any other fouls or mishaps until Gryffindor was in the lead by twenty points.

"Dunno what Harry thinks he'd doing," mumbled Hagrid. He stared through his binoculars. "If I didn' know better, I'd say he lost control of his broom…but can't have…"

"Check it out," Ron, who now had the binoculars, said handing them to Adele.

Adele peered through them and at Harry, who was now hanging from his broom. Adele was about to say something, but a sharp pain ran through the side of her neck. She let out a scream of anguish that echoed in the air, causing a few heads to turn around.

Holding onto the aching spot and falling to her knees, she tried to fight the sudden darkness peeling away behind her eyes. Harry needed her. She couldn't black out.

She barely heard in the distance, "Adele, are you okay?" and Hermione saying something about Snape jinxing Harry's broom.

The pain subsided for a split second, and Adele turned towards the direction of Professor Snape, who's eyes were on her.

She wasn't the only one who noticed. "Is he jinxing Adele too?" asked Ron in a whisper, his hand firm on her shoulder.

Hermione and Ron excused themselves for a moment, and Snape looked away from her. The pain came swelling back at full force, and she let out another scream. Hagrid was kneeling next to her, his beady little eyes full of concern. The fighting was useless though; darkness swallowed her into its never ending depths.

* * *

><p>"…she wake up?"<p>

Adele came around to a familiar voice, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Hermione, Ron, Harry, and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team all in their casual night clothes. Relief flashed over a few faces when they saw she was awake, but mostly they just grinned and waved. Sitting up slowly, Adele glanced around in confusion. The white walls were all too familiar to her.

"Why am I here?" she asked, hoping someone could answer. This was her second time in the hospital wing in the past week.

"You passed out at the game," Hermione said, and Adele noticed her tight-lipped expression silently begging her not to ask anymore questions until later.

"Did we win?" she asked weakly; she felt completely exhausted.

"Harry caught us the snitch and won us the game!" exclaimed Wood happily. "He was brilliant!"

Harry grinned sheepishly, and Adele beamed proudly.

"His broom did get all funky for a minute though," said Fred, holding a finger to his chin.

"And he caught the snitch in his mouth- almost swallowed it," continued George in amusement.

Adele peered at Harry curiously for a moment, before turning to the Gryffindor Quidditch team. "Why are you all here?"

"Why-"

"Are-"

"We-"

"Here?" Fred gasped the last word, staring at Adele in mock-disbelief.

"Our little reserve seeker and beater passes out," continued George.

"And you don't expect us to come running?" Fred looked appalled.

Everyone chuckled. "Gee, sorry!" Adele leaned back on the bed. "Am I allowed leaving?"

"Madam Pomfrey wants you to stay overnight," replied Hermione, glancing at the clock. "And she also wants us to be out of here by eight."

Adele looked at the clock, which read 7:50. "How long have I been asleep?" she asked in disbelief.

At least that explained why everyone was in their pajamas.

Ron shrugged at her question. "Too bloody long, if you ask me."

"Ronald!" Hermione yelled. "Your friend isn't feeling well, have some respect!"

"Actually, I'm feeling f-"

"The bloody hell do you think I have for her?" Ron snarled. "Dis..respect!"

Harry laughed softly at Adele's agitated expression. After a few more minutes of conversation and Ron and Hermione's bickering, everyone but Harry, Ron, and Hermione left her to rest. Fred and George had ruffled her hair, which didn't make her very happy.

_I hate being treated like a child_, she thought darkly.

The other three, on the other hand, looked eager and excited at finally being alone.

"We found something out!" Harry whisper-yelled, not wasting any time. "About the package!"

"Well?" prodded Adele, the sudden excitement overpowering her former irritation. "What is it?"

"Nicolas Flamel," said Ron, looking ecstatic.

Adele froze mid-happy-expression. "Pardon?"

Rolling her eyes, Hermione elaborated. "Hagrid mentioned it was Dumbledore's and another person, Nicolas Flamel's business, and no one else's."

"So, what now?" she asked them. "We look for information on this Nicolas Flamel person?"

"Exactly," grinned Harry.

They discussed possibilities for a while, until Adele got curious about something. "What else happened at the Quidditch game that caused me to pass out?"

Hermione's smile disappeared. "Well," she said slowly. "Snape was jinxing Harry's broom, and we think he was jinxing you somehow too…maybe doing a silent spell that would hurt you."

"But why?" asked Adele, although her mind floated to a reason.

Snape was there the night Adele overheard that conversation, and if Adele hadn't dreamt it, was there a chance that he disliked her for being a…werewolf? Was she a werewolf? How do you tell if you're a werewolf? Was that why she was so moody, or was it because the full moon was near- in the next week? And who was the other person- her 'Godfather'? And what about the potion they were discussing?

But then Adele remembered that it was the scar on her neck that was hurting earlier - she was sure of it, and wiped any ideas of connection from her mind. She was passing it off as a dream now, and she wouldn't fill her head with atrocities such as that.

But why was her scar hurting?

Harry's voice broke through her thoughts. "We're not sure," he replied, causing Adele to feel startled until she realized he was answering her previous question and not her thoughts. "But he targeted both of us."

"So we're in this together, then?" Adele asked him, grabbing his hand.

Nodding, Harry gave her hand a squeeze. Soon however, two other hands covered theirs. "We all are," said Hermione, smiling slightly.

"Yeah mate," said Ron, grinning toothily. "We have been since that bloody dog almost ate us for dinner."

Leave it to Ron for making a serious conversation slightly more comical.


	12. Christmas Prank Wars and Mirrors

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update! I don't really have a good excuse, except maybe that I was lacking motivation for a while. And I was caught up in other Harry Potter fanfics that I was reading. Anyways, here is my update!

* * *

><p><em>Chapter Eleven<em>

* * *

><p>Christmas was on its way, and the full moon passed without hazard.<p>

Or well, at least without major hazard; Adele was in the worst mood that day, and when night came around, she spent hours sitting in the secret passage that overlooked the lake with perfect view of the moon.

One morning mid-December, Hogwarts woke up to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze over, and the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching snowballs to follow Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban.

The dungeons were the worst, or at least that's what Adele thought; they were so cold that most of the time she wore a sweatshirt underneath her robes. She would have worn gloves and a hat if Snape would've allowed it. That particular Potions class evening, Adele was sitting next to Hermione and behind Harry and Ron.

"I do feel so sorry," said Draco Malfoy from across the room. "For the people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home." He was looking in Adele and Harry's direction when he said this.

Lifting her wand ready to hex him, Adele didn't get the chance because Hermione put her hand over Adele's and lowered it back to the table. Her brown eyes were tight, and it wasn't a secret that Hermione would've gladly let her hex Malfoy if it wasn't against the precious rules.

The truth was though, Malfoy was just jealous that the Slytherins lost to the Gryffindors, namely because of Harry.

It was true though, neither Harry nor Adele were going back to their respective 'homes' for Christmas, but they honestly didn't want it any other way. Hogwarts was like their home now, and they finally had other friends besides each other. Harry and Adele weren't the only ones staying for Christmas however, Ron and his brothers were staying because Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were going to visit Charlie in Romania.

When they left the dungeons at the end of Potions, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead- it made Adele's insides go warm and fuzzy. No surprise was it, that Hagrid was the one behind the tree, hauling it to the Great Hall.

"Want any help, Hagrid?" asked Ron, sticking his head through the branches.

Adele walked ahead with Courtney and Hermione when Ron started to bicker with Malfoy because he was being a prat…as usual. When the three girls walked into the great hall, they didn't hide their astonishment at how breathtakingly beautiful it looked—festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls, and no less than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room. No doubt, that was the work of Hagrid and probably several Wingardium Leviosa incantations.

"How many days do yer lot got until yer holidays?" asked Hagrid as him, Harry, and Ron caught up to the three girls.

"Just one," said Hermione, smiling in spite of herself, "And that reminds me—Adele, Harry, Ron—we should be in the library—lunch starts in a half hour."

"Oh yeah, you're right," said Ron, not hiding his displeasure at the very idea of spending a half hour of his time in the library, but he wisely did not oblige.

Tearing her eyes away from Professor Flitwick, who had golden bubbles blossoming out of his wand and was trailing them over the branches of the new tree, and waving goodbye to Courtney who was not chatting with Lavender and Parvati, Adele followed her three friends out of the great hall.

"The library?" asked Hagrid, following them out of the hall, "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

"Oh, we're not studying," Harry told him smartly. "Ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we've been trying to find out who he is."

Rolling her eyes at Harry and his bluntness, Adele turned to Hagrid who looked shocked. "You what?" he sputtered out, "Listen here—I've told yeh—drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's gaurdin'."

"We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all," said Hermione.

"Too true that is," commented Adele, walking ahead of the lot, "And I'll meet you three in the library when you get around to getting there."

They'd been searching for any sign of Nicolas Flamel in every book they could get their hands on, but that was precisely the problem Adele though—every book they _could_ get their hands on. What if the book that they needed was in the restricted section of the library? When she walked into the library, she looked around tentatively; Madam Pince wasn't paying any attention to her.

Tipping her way past students studying at the long tables scattered around the room, Adele started towards the restricted section only to have a hand grab her shoulder and spin her around. "Where do you think you're going?" asked an unfamiliar man, with disheveled brown hair and a rundown appearance. "That's the restricted section, is it not?"

Adele couldn't place her finger on it, but she was positive his voice sounded familiar. "It is," she finally replied.

"You don't need to be wandering around over here," he said, giving her a nudge towards the exit of the library. "Stay out of trouble, Adele."

Turning around in a flurry, she went to ask the man how he knew her name, but he was already walking towards Madam Pince who was calling out, "—emus, what on earth are you doing here?"

Sighing in defeat, Adele left the library knowing her idea of getting into the restricted section was a waste with the strange man and probably now Madam Pince watching her and making sure she went nowhere near the restricted section.

She had been walking down the hall for not even a minute before Harry, Hermione, and Ron caught up to her. "Harry was thrown out of the library," Hermione explained, eyeing Harry weakly, "Madam Pince caught him in the Restricted Section."

Adele shared her own dilemma and encounter with the strange man to them, and they all pondered over it as they made their way to the great hall once again for lunch. "You will keep looking while I'm away, won't you?" asked Hermione worriedly. "And send me an owl if you find anything!"

"And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is," said Ron, probably forgetting that Hermione's parents were muggles.

"It'd be safe to ask them," said Hermione sarcastically, "After all, they are dentists."

* * *

><p>Once the holidays started, Ron, Harry, and Adele were having too much of a good time to think much about Flamel. Ron and Harry had the first-years boy dormitory to themselves, and Adele had the entire first-years girl dormitory to herself. Albeit, she had to admit, it was quite lonely after the first night alone, and so she took refuge in the boys dormitory with Ron and Harry every night since.<p>

Nobody who knew seemed to mind.

That particular morning, two mornings before Christmas, Adele woke up before Ron and Harry did. Sliding on a pair of slippers she'd made with the help of Courtney, Hermione, and surprisingly Neville (who knew he'd be so good with muggle craft?), the Gryffindor slippers were warm and welcoming that particular morning.

Her long-sleeved shirt provided for enough warmth on the way down to the common room, but as soon as she was in the room, she raced to the pillowed chair in front of the roaring fire in the fireplace. She'd left a book on the side table from the night before, a muggle book called _The Princess Bride _that Courtney had let her borrow before the holidays. Grabbing the book, she opened to the last place she'd left off at and began reading.

Forty minutes passed before any sign of life was made. Adele's eyes lifted to the stairs leading down from the boy's dormitory; her eyebrow plucking up in amusement when Fred and George came stomping down them in mid-conversation.

"—Christmas Eve we could get her…" Fred's words stopped when he spotted Adele sitting on the chair. "Better yet, George, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"By Merlin, I think I am Fred," said George. "That is, if you're thinking we start right this very evening."

"You know me too well brother," said Fred, laughing when he saw that Adele was still staring at them in confusion and amusement. "Hello Adele, fancy seeing you here."

"Should I be concerned?" she asked them hesitantly, looking back and forth between the troublemakers.

And like true troublemakers, the twins only shared a look of pure mischief with each other as an answer to her question. Skipping out of the common room—yes, literally skipping—the twins drifted out of sight as the portrait hole slammed shut.

Another fifty minutes of reading her book passed by before Harry and Ron finally graced her with their presence. "How long have you been up?" asked Harry incredulously, glancing at the clock above the fireplace that read 11:35 AM.

"Er, that is to say," Adele paused for a moment, counting in her head, "Since around 10, probably."

The three made their way out of the common room, still in their pajamas, and down to the great hall for lunch as Ron ranted about how Adele was mental for getting up so early during a holiday break. On the contrary, however, Adele thought she had woken up quite late.

* * *

><p>The day went by fast—most of it was spent in the library trying to find any type of information about Nicolas Flamel. The trio felt bad that they hadn't done any research on Flamel after promising Hermione they would, and by the time they gave up for the day it was almost time for dinner. As they were leaving the library, ignoring the suspicious look Madam Pince sent them for it was one of many, Ron began ranting. As usual.<p>

"Hermione better be satisfied," he was saying, "I don't think I've ever spent that much time in a library, and mind you, I've spent a lot of time in a library before."

Adele snorted before replying sarcastically, "You should be a comedian, Ron."

"A—what?" he asked, scrunching up his nose. "A Come-in-die-an?"

Harry got a kick out of the mispronunciation and tried to hide his chuckles with his elbow, but Ron wasn't _that_ stupid. "Don't laugh!" he said in annoyance, before turning to Adele in confusion. "What is it?"

"A muggle who stands in front of a lot of people and makes them laugh," she explained.

Soon, the trio was sitting in the great hall at the only long table present; so many people weren't at Hogwarts during break that they didn't need the usual four tables for the different houses. Dinner went by quickly; Ron and Adele were shoving their faces like usual, and Harry was watching them in amusement.

It wasn't until the three took a sip of pumpkin juice that they realized something was not right. Fred and George's gasps of laughter could be heard from down the table, and Adele's wheeze of surprise didn't add comfort to the situation. "Harry—why the bloody hell are you covered in spots?"

"Covered in—what?—Ron!" Their eyes went to Ron then, who was breaking out in scales like some type of fish. "Don't look at me—something is happening to Adele too!"

True to his word, when Adele stared down at her hands they were covered in black stripes. Fred and George came down to their end of the table with matching grins, which grew even further when they saw the seething first years. "Didn't anyone tell you guys?" asked Fred innocently.

"It's _Christmas_," said George. "Not Halloween."

"Oh, don't think you're going to get away with this," stated Adele, standing from her seat, "If it's a prank war you want, then it's a prank war you'll get." She turned to Harry and Ron. "Come on, then—we've got some planning to do."

The two didn't ask questions and obliged quickly to Adele's demand, blocking out the laughter of the students who saw them as they made their way out of the great hall and back to the Gryffindor common room. When they were seated in the chairs by the fireplace—and still spotted, striped, and scaly, mind you—Adele started explaining what was going to happen.

When she finished her plan, Harry and Ron stared at her in surprise. "I had no idea you were so brilliant at coming up with pranks," said Harry. "Why didn't you ever mention it to me? We could've had so much fun with Dudley and Jason."

"And get beaten up by our much-larger-than-us cousins? No thanks," she stated blandly, and then turned towards the fireplace. "As soon as we know they're asleep, we'll strike."

Night dawned on the castle quickly, and Fred and George took their leave to bed earlier than usual that night—_perhaps they were exhausted from creating so much havoc_, Adele thought grimly.

On the other hand, Harry, Ron, and Adele weren't even close to being ready for bed; they had a plan to carry through. Grabbing her cherry red wand from her back pocket, the boys followed her lead, and the three of them quietly snuck into the third year dormitory where the twins were fast asleep.

"Now remember—swish and flick," said Adele, showing them an example. "And remember, pronounce it _correctly_." Ron looked sheepish for a moment.

"Ready?" she asked after a moment, "On the count of three—one—two—three!"

The three chorused out quietly, "_Wingardium Leviosa_!"

The weight of the two beds and the twins was more than they were used to for a simple standard spell like Wingardium Leviosa, but with enough persistence they made it work. Carefully and silently, they made their way down the stairs and to the common room (which was very difficult, they found out).

After they made it safely out of the common room and down the halls towards the entrance hall, they avoided Filch at all costs. Fortunately, Merlin seemed to be on their side that night because Filch really was nowhere in sight. When they finally reached the entrance hall after ten minutes of vigorous much-needed persistence, they gently let the two beds with the two boys land on the floor on either side of the double doors leading into the great hall.

"Perfect," breathed Adele in a whisper, "Now we just need—(she flicked her wand and mumbled a spell)—perfect."

The three praised their work of the twins lying in their beds, clad in fuzzy pink pajamas and pink bonnets on their messy heads of red hair. Scurrying back up to the common rooms, and waited patiently for the early morning to come.

Eventually the time did come, and Adele had to wake up Harry and Ron who had fallen asleep. They made their way down to the great hall, sharing smiles when they saw everyone who stayed behind for the holidays making their way there too. When they arrived right outside the doors, a laughing crowed was surrounding the double doors. Pushing through, the trio made their way to the front and watched on in satisfaction.

The twins had their blankets held around them and shockingly red faces; their eyes fell on Adele, Harry, and Ron. "No need to ask whose idea this was," said Fred, turning his gaze solely on Adele.

"I like your pajamas," she said smiling, and then exchanged grins with her two partners-in-crime.

* * *

><p>The very scarce time before Christmas was spent in an ongoing prank war with the twins, and as it went on, more people joined (including a few people from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff). People double-crossed people, and some people triple-crossed people. There were changing-hair-colors, changing skin colors, embarrassing clothes, buckets filled with leftover pudding landing on heads, and every other prank you could possibly think of—muggle and wizard prank alike.<p>

However, the dinner before Christmas morning, Dumbledore made an announcement declaring the prank war officially over and—much to the chagrin of Filch and Snape—awarded points to the top pranksters of the competition. Fred and George received twenty points each, a third-year Ravenclaw received five points, a fifth-year Hufflepuff was awarded fifteen points, and Harry, Ron, and Adele were awarded fifteen points each.

Needless to say, everyone was ecstatic that they'd earned their house points by simply participating in a full-out prank war.

Christmas morning came at last, and Adele was woken up by Harry and Ron yelling in her ears.

"Adele!" they were shouting, "Wake up! You've got presents!"

She opened her eyes in exhaustion, only to sit up straight and alert when a pile of presents surrounded the bed she was sleeping in (she assumed it was Seamus's, but she couldn't be sure). "Presents?" she asked in confusion. "Are you sure they're mine?"

"Who else's would they be?" asked Ron in disbelief. "Go on and look at the names written on them then, they all say 'Adele Paxton'."

It was true; each present said her name on it. She grinned happily, and smiled at Harry who was also gaping in disbelief at his own pile of presents surrounding his bed. "Merry Christmas," said Ron, turning to his pile that was a lot larger than Harry's and Adele's.

Picking up the first package she saw, Adele ripped it open to reveal a red collar that looked like licorice. There was a note on it that read,

Adele,

Licorice has been a real pleasure to have around the cottage, but I think he misses his owner. I've made this collar for him. I tried the licorice. It is not real licorice.

Merry Christmas,

Hagrid

Chuckling softly at the note, she held the collar in her hands and made a note to find her cat later on that evening. The second package she picked up was wrapped poorly in newspaper clippings, and contained a wrinkly, very large t-shirt that most likely belonged to Adele's uncle previously.

Two beds down, Harry was holding up a hand-knitted emerald green sweater. "He's been inducted into our family officially, let's see then, did you receive one too?" Ron turned to Adele, and then pointed to a wrapped package lying next to her diminishing pile. She picked it up and opened it to reveal a violet hand-knitted sweater. Ron shook his head before saying, "And so have you, apparently."

Under the sweater, which Adele quickly put on, was a tin of homemade fudge and a note wishing her a merry Christmas. Adele opened her next present, which was a silver beret from Hermione that Adele couldn't wait to wear outside. Next was a smaller package that contained a box of Adele's favorite candy from Courtney. Finally, Adele was down to the last two gifts, and each was smaller than any of the others.

Opening the first one, she pulled out a white bracelet and a note that was sitting in the bottom of the box that read,

Dearest Adele,

Wear this bracelet at all times, and for no reason should you ever take it off. This bracelet will protect you, for not only had it previously belonged to your father, but it contains the answers to future questions that hopefully someday I will be able to answer.

The note wasn't signed. Staring wide-eyed at the note and then at the bracelet that once belonged to her father, she didn't waste any time sliding it on her wrist. A surge of warmth rushed through her when it touched her skin. Turning to her last parcel, she picked it up in her hands. Opening it slowly, still absorbed in the previous gift, she was surprised once again to find what she'd learned was a time-turner enclosed in the package.

Picking up the valuable gift, she stared at it in her hands before picking up the note and reading,

Adele Rose Paxton, please use the gift enclosed very carefully, for meddling in time can be a very dangerous thing. I find that you will know when to use this, and I trust that you will use it wisely.

Again, the note was unsigned, but the handwriting was different. Shoving the time-turner into her suitcase and sliding the suitcase back under her bed, Adele turned her attention to Harry and Ron who were staring in astonishment at Harry's last gift.

"I've heard of those," Ron said at last, dropping the box of Every Flavor Beans he'd gotten from Hermione. "If that's what I think it is—they're really rare and really valuable."

"What is it?" Harry and Adele asked in unison.

Adele watched as Harry picked up the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. "It's an invisibility cloak," said Ron, a look of awe present on his features, "I'm sure it is—try it on."

Harry threw the cloak around his shoulders and Ron gave a yell. Adele stared at Harry, or rather the place he once was, in shock. "It is! Look down!" Ron's ears were turning red in excitement.

After the three explored the invisibility cloak for a little while, they shoved it in a safe place (Harry's suitcase), and turned to Fred and George who had just entered the dorm.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Hey, look—Harry and Adele got a Weasley sweater too!" Fred and George were wearing blue sweaters, one with a large yellow F on it, and the other with a G.

"Theirs is better than ours, though," said Fred, staring at the sweaters. "She obviously makes more of an effort if you're not family."

"Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?" George demanded. "Come on, get it on, they're lovely and warm."

"I hate maroon," Ron mumbled halfheartedly as he pulled it over his head.

"You haven't got a letter on yours," Fred observed. "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid—we know we're called Gred and Forge."

Adele giggled into her hands; leave it to the twins to make you laugh.

Later that night, Adele was sleeping in the bed next to Ron and Harry's when she was woken up by none other than Harry himself. "I've got to show you guys something," he was saying. "I've found a mirror, and my mum and dad are in it. Come with me."

Too tired to argue, Adele and Ron followed Harry out of the dorm and out of the common room; the three of them easily covered by Harry's miraculous invisibility cloak. Eventually they found the room Harry was spouting on and on about, and stopped in front of a mirror. Harry hauled the cloak off of them, and stood in front of the mirror. "See, here they are."

Adele looked at Harry who was standing in front of the mirror happily, and then at the mirror, but all she saw was Harry. Ron voiced her thoughts. "No, come on, you've got to stand in front of it properly," said Harry, pushing Ron to the spot where he once stood.

Ron gasped. "Look at me!"

"Can you see all your family standing around you?"

Adele was silent in shock as she stood directly behind Ron, and when he moved away and began to describe what he saw, she found herself surrounded by people. A couple stood next to her and towered above her, their hands clutching her shoulders and their faces scrunched up in smiles as they looked down at her. The woman was breathtakingly beautiful and had long, toasted chestnut hair that cascaded around her in curls, and brilliantly shining blue eyes. Her skin was slightly tanned, and her cheeks were a rosy red. The man had golden blonde hair and golden eyes, with little wrinkles under his eyes probably from smiling so much.

She knew immediately who they were—they were her parents.

Standing behind them was a man who looked shockingly like an older version of Harry, except for his blue eyes. Standing next to him was a beautiful girl with long red hair and green eyes. Even further back was a man with messy black hair, wearing a mischievous smirk on his face as he stared ahead. Finally, the last man standing there was a young man with messy brown hair and sparkling eyes, and while he looked familiar, Adele couldn't place her finger on it.

Many questions ran through her head, but more than anything she wished to be inside that mirror and with the people who made her chest swell up and feel heavy. She wished to be beside her mother and father; she wished to hug them.

A hand on her shoulder startled her out of her trance, and she hastily spun around to see Harry. "You saw them, didn't you?" he asked, sharing a look with Ron. "Your parents?"

"I saw my parents," Adele told him, "I saw your parents too, and two other people."

The nights were passing by in a blur, and Adele was pushing back the urge to go back to the place the mirror was at. One night, four days before school would start up again, the urge became too much and she made her way to the mirror. Because she didn't have Harry's invisibility cloak, she went out of her way to be extra quiet and steer clear of trouble.

However, as soon as she was in the clear and staring at her reflection with the people surrounding her, a voice broke through the crisp air. "I figured I might find you here eventually," said Dumbledore, walking out from the shadows. Adele held a hand to her chest, trying to calm herself down. "I admit, I was impressed you managed to hold off this long. But I guess, everyone must give into their truest desires eventually."

"I'm sorry?" she asked, fearing she was in trouble.

Almost like he was reading her thoughts, Dumbledore replied, "You are not in trouble, but I do not want you to return to this mirror again. I will be moving it out of here very soon nonetheless, so if you do return you will not find it." His words were not unkind, but simply understanding.

"What is it?" she asked after a moment. "The mirror, I mean. Why does Ron see himself as Quidditch captain and Head Boy, and Harry with his family and me with my family and then people who aren't my family?"

"You see your strongest desires," said Dumbledore. "When Harry looks into the mirror, his strongest desire is to be with his family, and so that is what he sees. Ron feels inferior to his brothers, and his strongest desire is to make his family proud of him—that is why he sees what he does. And you, Adele, your strongest desire is to be with the people who love you, and while the people you see when you look into the mirror are not all your blood-related family, they are your family by other means."

"But why Harry's parents?" she asked.

"Your father and mother were very good friends with James and Lily Potter, as well as Remus Lupin and Sirius Black," continued Dumbledore. "I suspect you see them too?"

Adele turned back to the mirror, and landed her eyes on the two males that weren't hers or Harry's parents. She nodded.

"Before Jonathon and Rose were killed by Voldemort, they spent all of their time with Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus," Dumbledore paused for a moment, seeming to debate something. After a few seconds he continued, "I suspect if they hadn't been killed, you would've been brought up believing that they were all part of your family. Now, I suspect it is getting quite late and I can't have my students wandering around the halls this late at night."

Getting his hint, Adele thanked Dumbledore for his explanation and snuck out of the room and back to the dorms. She did, however, still have a question rummaging through her mind; if her parents and Harry's parents were killed by Voldemort, then what happened to Sirius and Remus?

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><p>AN: I will reply to any reviews I get now on chapter updates, so please review and enjoy! Note: I did not proofread this, so mistakes are almost expected.


	13. Sorcerer's Stone and Quidditch

A/N: I know I haven't updated in forever and a day, but now that it's summer I will have more time to write. Expect to get faster updates now!

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><p><em>Chapter Eleven<em>

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><p>As it turned out, Harry had been caught by the mirror by Dumbledore as well, and was also convinced not to return. For the rest of the Christmas holidays, his invisibility cloak remained folded at the bottom of his trunk. Adele wasn't sure if Harry felt the same way she did, but she couldn't get what she saw out of her head. She couldn't shake the feeling of the man who looked familiar, and then the encounter about overhearing the conversation about werewolves that she wasn't entirely sure was a dream anymore.<p>

"You see, Dumbledore was right, that mirror could drive you mad," said Ron in annoyance when Harry told them about his dreams. Ron's reaction and Harry's own problems stopped Adele from sharing her predicament with them.

Hermione, who came back the day before term started, took a different view on things. She was torn between horror at the idea of Harry and Adele being out of bed, roaming the school when they should've been in bed asleep ("If Filch had caught you!"), and disappointed that they hadn't at least found out who Nicolas Flamel was.

They had pretty much given up hope of ever finding Flamel in a library book, even though Harry swore to them he'd read the name somewhere.

Once term had started, they were back to skimming through books for ten minutes during their breaks. Harry and Adele had even less time than the other two, because Quidditch practice had started again.

Wood was working the team harder than ever, and Adele wasn't taking well to it. Her temper was at its highest, and though she didn't want to admit it, she had the slightest feeling it could be because the full moon was coming around again in a week or so. That didn't stop Adele from working hard though, for if the Gryffindor team won against Hufflepuff in their next match, they would overtake Slytherin in the house championship for the first time in seven years.

And if Fred, George, or Harry couldn't play for some reason or another, she wanted to be ready.

One afternoon Wood came with bad news of the upcoming game. "Snape's refereeing," he said sourly, "When's he ever refereed a Quidditch match where he's been fair? He's definitely not going to be fair if we might overtake Slytherin."

"Calm down," said Adele, glancing worriedly at Harry who looked frightened by the news, "We've just got to make sure we play a clean game, so Snape hasn't got an excuse to pick on us."

When Harry and Adele told Ron and Hermione the news, they flipped.

"Don't play," said Hermione at once.

"Say you're ill," said Ron.

"Pretend to break your leg," suggested Hermione.

"Really break your leg," said Ron.

"I can't," said Harry, turning his eyes on me, "Adele is the reserve Seeker, and there's no bloody way I'm going to let her take my place when Snape is refereeing."

Neville broke into their conversation however, when he tumbled through the portrait hole with his legs bound together. Adele left the common room and headed towards the secret passage overlooking the lake; she didn't want to lose her temper and hex Malfoy for being a git to Neville.

* * *

><p>A few days later, Hermione came bounding into the common room with news. "I've found him!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Nicolas Flamel! He's the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone!"<p>

After explaining what the Sorcerer's Stone was, they turned the discussion to Harry's future fate in Quidditch. "I'm going to play," he told Ron, Hermione, and Adele. "If I don't, all the Slytherins will think I'm just too scared to face Snape. I'll show them... it'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win."

Hermione and Ron were less hesitant than Adele was to let Harry play, but she knew convincing him otherwise now would be pointless.

* * *

><p>"Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you, Weasley?"<p>

Ron ignored Malfoy however; he was too concentrated on the quidditch match, and then on George when he attempted to hit a bludger at Snape. Shaking her head - Adele really expected no less from one of the Weasley twins - her attention snapped away from the quidditch match at the sound of Neville's quivvering voice.

"I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy," he was stammering.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle howled with laughter, but Adele gave Neville a hard, comforting pat on his back. "You tell him, Neville."

Things were just about to get ugly when Ron started shaking Adele, and jumping up and down in the stands. "Harry's caught the snitch!"

Looking around for her best friend, she spotted Harry hovering low on his broom with the golden snitch clutched tightly in his hand. His face was flushed red, and his expression was one of pure esctacy. Hermione's arms shocked Adele out of her concentration on Harry, and they shared a hug full of excitement and loud squeals. Breaking away from Hermione and running down the stands to the pitch, Adele engulfed Harry in a hug as well, which he quickly returned.

"You did it!" Her face was shining with happiness. "Gryffindor is in the lead!"

Harry could only grin in response - still caught up in all of the commotion of winning the match and bringing his house into the lead. A few seconds later, two blurs of red came hurtling into Adele, sending her to the ground in a heap. Fred and George stood over her, picking themselves up.

Standing up herself, Adele gave both of the twins a well-deserved hug. "Way to go, you two! Excellent beating skills."

Eventually everyone made their way back to their common rooms, and Gryffindor was celebrating the fantastic win. Harry was being paraded around the room on the shoulders of Fred and George, and loud cheers and clapping sounded from their housemates. They celebrated by drinking butterbeers that the twins had stolen from the kitchen, and playing numerous games of exploding snap until Professor McGonagall had enough and told them to go to bed.

Adele was just about to follow Hermione up to their dorm when Harry pulled her, Hermione, and Ron aside. The three followed Harry to the seats around the fireplace, and sat down with curious expressions. Looking around hesitantly before opening his mouth, Harry scanned the room for anyone who might overhear. No one was present save for the four.

"So we were right, it is the Sorcerer's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy - and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus pocus' - I reckon there are other things gaurding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through-"

"So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to snape?" said Hermione in alarm.

"Great," Adele mumbled, staring at her folded hands, "Then the Stone will be gone by next Tuesday."

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><p>AN: Reviews would be awesome! Hope you enjoy:)


	14. Norbert and Malfoy

A/N: Here is chapter twelve, and I do hope you enjoy!

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><p><em>Chapter Twelve<em>

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><p>Quirrell seemed to be stronger than they'd planned however, as the next few weeks went by in a fast blur. Snape was still his cranky, uptight self - this made the four best friends confident that he had yet to aquire the Sorcerer's Stone. Adele tried to make side-conversation with Quirrell in hopes to rid some of his nerves, but to no avail. She'd just have to cross her fingers.<p>

Hermione, on the other hand, was spending just as much time worrying about exams as she was about Snape.

"Aren't you preparing a bit early?" Adele asked, gesturing to the numerous books Hermione had spread around her. "Exams are ages away."

"Ten weeks," Hermione snapped. "That's not ages, that's like second to Nicolas Flamel."

"But we're not six-hundred-years-old," Ron reminded her. "Anyway, what are you studying for? You already know it's an A."

"What am I studying for..."

At this point, Adele excused herself from her friends and escaped out of the portrait-hole and into the corridor. Figuring she had nothing better to do, Adele made her way out of the castle and onto the grounds, only to be stopped by two very mischevious-looking twins.

"Look what we've got here," prodded Geroge, wrapping an arm around Adele, "Just who we were looking for-"

"Care to help us out with a prank?" interuppted Fred, sliding his arm around her shoulders.

Adele studied them for a moment - as much as she wanted to help, she thought that perhaps what she was doing was just a _bit_ more important. "Can't today guys," she said with a sigh, "But if you catch me another time, I definitely will."

She walked away from Fred and George, who watched her leave with dumbfounded expressions and a bit of disappointment apparent on their identical features. About to make her way to Hagrid's hut once again, Adele was stopped this time by Harry, Hermione, and Ron - who also looked to be heading in the same direction.

"Adele?" Harry asked, catching up to her, "Where are you going?"

"Same place as you, I'm guessing."

Hermione walked up to them, shortly followed by Ron. "Hagrid's?" Ron asked, looking around, "Did you catch him sniffing around about dragons too?"

Hermione's arm hit Ron across the chest, and a warning to be quieter escaped her tight lips. "Don't be so loud - someone could hear!"

"Dragons?" Adele questioned in a whisper; she most certainly heard nothing about dragons.

* * *

><p>"So - yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"<p>

Adele was the first to answer Hagrid's question - the whole reason she had come in the first place. "Yes," she said. "I was - _we_ were wondering if you could tell us what's gaurding the Sorcerer's Stone apart from Fluffy."

Hagrid frowned at her.

"O' course I can't," he said. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. The Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts - I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy."

Adele listened as Hermione buttered Hagrid up, until finally he spilled the beans. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you," she finished.

Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words. Harry and Ron beamed at Hermione, while Adele gave her an encouraging smile.

"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that...let's see...he borrowed Fluffy from me...then some o' the teachers did enchantments...Professor Sprout - Professor Flitwick - Professor McGonagall -" he ticked them off on his fingers, "Professor Quirrell - an Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

"Snape?"

There conversation was cut short however, when a sound emitted from the corner of the room. There sitting on Hagrid'd table in front of the boiling fire was what strikingly resembled a dragon egg. Adele walked over to the table and took a seat, only to be startled when a black mass of fur jumped on her lap. Staring down at the cat, Adele's expression turned from curious to happy. "Licorice!" she gushed, petting the cat softly, "Look at you, you've grown so much!"

"I've been takin' care a 'er," Hagrid spoke up, smiling at the black beast, "Real friendly animal, she is."

"Where did you get it, Hagrid? The dragon egg?" asked Ron, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. "It must've cost you a fortune."

Hagrid, looking like he'd much rather talk about Adele's cat, turned his attention once again to the egg. "Won it," he said. "Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" asked Hermione.

Hagrid explained that he'd been reading up on them, and that keeping the egg in the fire would keep the baby dragon safe. "What I got there's a Norwedgian Ridgeback. They're rare, them," he finished, looking very pleased with himself.

Adele wasn't paying so much attention anymore, instead focused on her own thoughts and pampering Licorice for the moment. The discussion going on around her had suddenly shifted when a small noice sounded from outside. Glancing over at the window, Adele was shocked at the sight of a familiar blonde-haired boy with striking blue eyes and an evil glint in his face.

Hagrid jumped up to hide his dragon egg, but it was too late. Malfoy had seen them _and_ the egg. And he knew exactly what it was.

* * *

><p>Something about the smile lurking on Malfoy's face during the next week made Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Adele very nervous. They spent most of their time in Hagrid's hut, trying to reason with him.<p>

"Just let him go," Harry urged. "Set him free."

"I can't," said Hagrid, looking at the dragon who'd been hatched seconds after Malfoy had disappeared, "He's too little. He'd die."

They looked at the dragon. It had grown three times in length in just a week. Smoke kept furling out of its nostrils. Hagrid hadn't been doing his game-keeping duties because the dragon was keeping him so busy. There were empty brandy bottles and chicken feathers all over the floor.

"I've decided to call him Norbert," said Hagrid, looking at the dragon with misty eyes. "He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's Mommy?"

"You've named him?" asked Adele, shaking her head. This was not good.

After trying to talk some more reason into Hagrid, eventually the option of sending Norbert to Romania with Ron's Brother, Charlie, came into the picture.

And in the end, Hagrid agreed that they could send an owl to Charlie and ask him.

* * *

><p>The following week dragged by. Wednesday night found Hermione, Harry, and Adele sitting alone in the common room. Adele was laying halfway off of the chair by the fireplace, and Hermione and Harry were sitting on the couch next to her and discussing Norbert and his get-away.<p>

Adele, on the other hand, was staring intently at the ceiling. The full moon had came and went, and with it nothing had happened. Adele was back to feeling relaxed and happier than usual, but she was also back to wondering if that conversation she'd overheard was actually a dream after all.

Ron appearing in the portrait hole distracted Adele from her thoughts, and she watched as he threw the invisibility cloak at Harry. "The bloody dragon bit me!" he whisper-yelled. "That thing is a monster! I don't know how Hagrid can put up with it!"

"Hagrid loves his creatures, remember?" Adele joked, thinking about Fluffy the three-headed dog.

They were soon interuppted by Hedwig, who was carrying a letter tied around her leg.

"That should be Charlie's reply!" Ron shouted, untying the letter from Hedwig. Adele held out some leftover pastry from dinner for the bird that she'd been munching on, and watched as the white owl flew away with a soft hoot.

Charlie's reply had been nothing less than good - they could send Norbert with Charlie's friends on Saturday night around midnight on the tallest tower, so they wouldn't be caught with an illegal dragon.

They ran into a dilemna the next day however, when Malfoy made it certain he knew about Norbert.

"Bloody hell," Ron whispered, watching as Malfoy walked away, "I left the letter Charlie sent in the book that git just checked out. Malfoy's going to know were releasing Norbert on Saturday!"

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><p>They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came for him to say good-bye to Norbert if they hadn't been so worried about what they had to do. It was a very dark, cloudy night, and they were a bit late arriving at Hagrid's hut because they'd had to wait for Peeves to get out of their way in the entrance hall. Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate.<p>

"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," said Hagrid in a muffled voice. "An' I've just packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."

On there way up to the tallest tower, the quartlet overheard Mcgonagall yelling Malfoy's ear off and giving him a detention. Hermione looked ecstatic, and Adele let a large grin grace her face.

Chuckling about Malfoy, they waited, Norbert thrashing about in his crate. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness.

Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. Three of them showed Harry and Hermione the harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them. Adele, on the other hand, was being stared at by the fourth guy. After getting uncomfortable by the silence, she cleared her throat and folded her arms. "Ron apologizes for not being able to make it," she said. "His entire arm was swelling up to the size of a dragon itself just by one little bite."

The fourth friend bit his tongue to hide his laughter, but to no avail. In the end, Harry, Hermione, and Adele watched as at last Norbert was going...going...gone.

They slipped back down the spiral staircase, their hearts as light as their hands, now that Norbert was off them. No more dragon - Malfoy in detention - what could spoil their happiness?

The answer to that was waiting at the foot of the stairs. As they stepped into the corridor, Filch's face loomed suddenly out of the darkness.

"Well, well, well," he whispered, "We are in trouble."

They'd left the invisibility cloak on top of the tower.

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><p>AN: There it is! Reviews would be awesome, and thanks for sticking with me! I am excited to write the next three chapters (the last three chapters), and then I get to start on book two!

Also, the romance between Fred and Adele won't really pick up until the third and fourth book. There will be hints at it and maybe a few innocent moments, but right now I think Adele is too young and too new to the magic world to be worrying about boys. :'D


	15. Detention and Wolfsbane

A/N: Here is chapter thirteen!

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><p><em>Chapter Thirteen<em>

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><p>Filch took no mercy on the trio out past curfew, but something suspicious happened when they were brought to McGonagall for their punishments. After getting a hefty amount of points taken from their house, Harry and Hermione were given detention with Hagrid.<p>

Adele, on the other hand, was given detention with Snape - of all people, Snape!

"But Professor -!" Professor McGonagall peered at Adele over her spectacles, but did nothing to ease her complaining. The stern expression on her face silenced the girl however, and she accepted her fate of detention with the world's biggest git alive - and possibly the soon-to-be thief of the Sorcerer's Stone.

As soon as the trio was sitting in their common room - out of trouble for at least a little while - Harry and Hermione filled Ron in on what happened. "The answer to this is obvious," said Ron after a few seconds, "Adele just doesn't show up to detention."

"She can't skip detention!" Hermione snapped, folding her arms; her hair looking even more bushy than usual from the previous adventure, "She'll get into even more trouble!"

"Well there's no bloody way she's going to detention with _Snape_! Did you forget he's trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone? If he realizes we're on to him, then Adele could be in danger!" Harry's face was growing redder by the minute.

Adele slammed her hands down on the table they were surrounding, and all eyes turned to her. "In case you three forgot, I'm sitting right here, and I think I'm perfectly capable of handling myself in one detention with Snape."

Harry, Hermione, and Ron were quiet for a second - the looks on their faces clearly showing they were not okay with what she was saying. Suprisingly however, the three merely nodded; giving up the fight before it even began. "Who knows," Adele added, feeling slightly guilty, "Maybe I'll be able to snoop a little too."

"Adele -" Harry looked at her with unfamiliar seriousness, "This isn't a game. You need to be really careful, all right?"

Sighing, Adele nodded at her best friend. "Fine then, no snooping."

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><p>The day of the detention came too soon, and Adele found herself bidding goodbye to Harry, Hermione, and Neville - who had roped himself into a detention as well. Watching their retreating figures as they walked out of the castle and towards Hagrid's hut, Adele started making her way to the dungeons wishing she could just follow after her friends.<p>

But no sir, she had detention with the lovely, evil git: Snape.

The corridor was silent around her; no surprise, as it was the dead of night. Longing to just go back to her dorm and sleep, Adele fought her urges and at last made her way to the cold, creepy dungeons. Knocking on Snape's office door, she waited impatiently for him to answer.

Much to her surprise however, the person who answered the door was not Snape, but rather a somewhat familiar face. The man Adele had seen in the library with the gruff features and ragged clothing now stood in front of her with a startled expression. "Adele?" he asked, his voice catching in his throat. "Isn't it past curfew?"

Before Adele had the chance to ask him how he knew her name _again_, Snape appeared behind the strange man. "If that's all you needed to know, I have a detention I need to attend to." Snape's voice was cold, and there was something behind his words - a warning, perhaps.

"Ah, yes. Of course," said the man, smiling awkwardly at Snape, "Thank you again Severus."

After his final farewell, Adele watched as the man walked out of the dungeons and disappeared from sight. "Who was that?" Adele asked Snape, knowing the probability of him giving her an answer was slim to none.

"I believe you are not here to ask me pointless questions, Miss Paxton, but rather because you were caught breaking the rules. This is a detention, not an interview," Snape glared down at the girl, his lips slowly forming into a crooked smile, "If you would start cleaning out the cauldrons piled over there, and once you've finished that I have opened up my cabinet for sorting."

Sighing a long and hefty sigh, Adele went straight to work at _hand-cleaning_ the cauldrons and sorting Snape's potion ingredients. The evil git Professor watched her as she made her way cleaning hour after hour, until finally she was sorting potions that started with the letter W.

Adele shifted through Wartcap Powder, Wit-Sharpening potions, and a few untitled bottles with the letter W simply printed on the label. When she grabbed the next potion, she froze - the vial said Wolfsbane on it. Recalling back to the night she was in the infirmary, Adele's fingers closed tightly around the vial; could _this_ be the potion that would save her from herself and others?

She went to put the potion next to an untitled flask, but her hand didn't unclench. She hesitated.

"Is there a problem?" Snape's icey voice startled her, and the vial dropped from her hands and fell to the dungeon floors. There was a moment of silence as both of them stared at the broken glass and the oddly colored liquid that poured from it. Snape's hard expression went from the ground to Adele. "Out," he said, barely above a whisper, "Get out. Now."

Wasting no time abiding his orders, Adele scurried out of the dungeons and ran back to her common room. Her face was pale and she was sweating, but it had nothing to do with running. Glancing out the window by the fireplace, her eyes landed on the shining full moon. She suddenly had an idea of why McGonagall gave her detention with Snape instead of Hagrid, and she didn't like it one bit.

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><p>AN: Sorry this chapter was kind of short, but I wanted to get it out of the way so I could right the last two chapters! :'D I'm so excited! Soon we will be on book two! Thanks guys for sticking with me through the first book, and I hope you stick with me through the next six! Reviews please and enjoy !


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